The Pirate King and the Kaizukokage
by BNGwarrior
Summary: Betrayed by his village and driven out of the only home he'd ever known Uzumaki Naruto leaves the Village of Konoha. Now with new friends and a new destiny before him Naruto goes from ninja to pirate in a great adventure that spans the 7 seas and beyond.
1. Romance Dawn

_**OK, here's a story I'm writing to go along with my Naruto/Kamen Rider story: Kamen Rider Kurama. The chapters are going to be really freaking long so, consider yourselves warned. I hope I do justice to both Naruto and One Piece.**_

_**I don't own a damn thing and I make no money from this.**_

**The Pirate King and the Kaizokukage.**

Romance Dawn

Naruto walked down the street of the village that had become his adopted home. 3 years ago he'd been banished from his home in Konoha. And all because of that stuck up son of a bitch Sasuke Uchiha. If that power hungry little sociopath hadn't tried to betray their home for that pasty faced pedophile Orochimaru, then things would have been fine. But he just had to try and abandon the ideals that they had learned growing up. Naruto had been given the mission to bring Sasuke back to the village. That mission had been a success: Sasuke had been returned to Konoha, granted his arms and legs were broken, along with a few ribs and a concussion, but he had been brought back alive.

Unfortunately, those bastards on the civilian council hadn't seen it that way and had done everything in their power to see to it that Naruto got expelled from the Konoha Ninja Ranks and banished from the Village. The ninja heads and Tsunade had done everything they could to keep Naruto in the village, but that half chopped up bastard Danzo had bribed, blackmailed, and/or given the Fire Daimyo bullshit information that led to his approval of expulsion from Konoha.

And so it was with a heavy heart that Naruto turned in his headband, packed up his few belongings, and left the only home he'd ever known. It had been a tearful farewell from his friends. Ino and Tenten had tears beginning to form in their eyes while Hinata was openly crying. Lee was complaining that he'd never gotten to have his fight with Naruto. Neji simply gave Naruto a firm handshake and thanked him for everything he'd done for him. Shino had also shaken Naruto's hand, saying that Naruto was a good man and that he was proud to have known him. Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba also said they were proud to call Naruto their friend and comrade, and that if he ever needed help, they would be there for him.

Iruka had taken back the headband he'd given Naruto after he became a ninja. "Just to hang onto it." he had said with a forced smile. Tsunade had apologized more times than Naruto had bothered to count and hoped that he would forgive her, which Naruto did without pause or hesitation. Shizune had given Naruto a pack of medical supplies, just in case. The Ichirakus had presented Naruto with a life-time supply of instant ramen, which they said would only last the blond knuckle head about a year.

Jiraya had given Naruto a scroll containing information about the Rasengan that had, at first come straight from the 4th Hokage himself and had been added onto by Jiraya along with several scrolls on chakra control. He also gave Naruto information about a village that Naruto could go to. Naruto took the information and made his way to the Land of Waves. He'd been honestly surprised at the name of the Great Naruto Bridge. After visiting with Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami, Naruto finally found a ship that would take him to the village Jiraya had recommended.

During the trip, Naruto and Kyubi had started to come to a mutual understanding of each other. In exchange for Naruto making Kyubi's living space more habitable, Kyubi would help Naruto out in matters of controlling his chakra, using elemental chakra, and even helped to create couple of weapons for Naruto. It had turned out that the Kyubi had been something of a blacksmith in the demon world and was a master at creating weapons.

From the moment he'd stepped onto the dock of that island, Naruto had found himself a job at the local Tavern. And it was there that he had met the man who would quickly become his best friend: Monkey D. Luffy. The two of them hit it off quickly. The pair would train together to master their skills and powers. Luffy had told Naruto about his dream of becoming the King of the Pirates. Naruto had smiled at the idea and told Luffy that he would be Luffy's first mate when the time came.

And now, 3 years later, Naruto was making his way down to the docks. He had grown in the past 3 years and now wore an outfit that was mostly black but still held his trade mark orange. He also wore a dark orange jacket. He wore a pair of gloves. The left glove had a seal on the back of it with the kanji for 'gun' on it. This one held his pistol. It was based on a flintlock, but fired off a small Rasengan. His write hand had a similar seal except it had the kanji for 'sword.' This one held his specially made cutlass that could channel his chakra through and unleash a wave of Rasengan-like chakra with it.

Naruto came to a stop at the edge of the dock where a young man in denim shorts, a red vest, sandals, and a straw hat was sitting in a small boat.

"First Mate Uzumaki Naruto reporting for duty Captain Luffy." Naruto said with a smile. The straw hat man looked up with his own wide smile, his boyish face only marred by a scar under his left eye. "Permission to come aboard?" he asked.

"Permission granted First Mate Uzumaki." Luffy replied with a smile. Naruto hopped into the small boat and glanced back at the people that had gathered. He saw the mayor and Makino, his boss at the tavern.

"Sorry to leave you shorthanded Makino." He said with an apologetic smile.

"I'll be fine Naruto; I kept that place running long before you showed up." Makino said with a smile. "Just make sure you and Luffy take care of each other." The pair smiled at the bar maid.

"We will," Naruto said. "Believe it."

"Naruto!" shouted Luffy. "Set sail!"

"Aye, aye captain!" yelled Naruto and he kicked off from the docks. Naruto unfurled the sail on their small boat and took off to the open sea. About 5 minutes after setting off though, they were attacked by a giant sea serpent.

"Well, if it isn't our local sea monster." Luffy said his smile still firmly in place.

"Take him Captain." Naruto said, leaning back. "From what you've told me, you and this overgrown eel have some personal business."

"Right," Luffy said. "Sorry to have to do this, but I want to show you something I've been working on for the past 10 years." Luffy threw his fist back and Naruto watched out of the corner of his eyes as his captain's arm stretched back out their boat.

"Gum-Gum," Luffy said as his fist started to come back. "Pistol!" the elongated hand slammed into the sea monster, knocking it out of the water before it fell back in.

"Nice punch." Naruto said, standing next to his captain. "So, how many men do you think we'll need to conquer the Grand Line?"

"About 10 people ought to do it." Luffy said, holding his chin in thought. "And we're also gonna need a pirate flag."

"Not to mention a bigger ship." Naruto said crossing his fingers in front of him. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" 8 other Naruto's appeared in a puff of smoke. The boat they were in started to rock and sink a little. "See, I don't think we can fit 10 people in this boat." The pair laughed as Naruto's clones disappeared.

"Look out world," Luffy said; throwing his hands above his head, "I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" Naruto settled back in the boat as he remembered the first time he heard Luffy make that declaration.

_Flashback, 2 and half years ago_

Naruto and Luffy sat in a clearing, panting after a day of training.

"Hey Luffy," Naruto panted, "not that I mind, but why are you out here training?"

"I'm training," Luffy said, "to become King of the Pirates!"

"King of the Pirates?" asked Naruto. "What do you mean?" Luffy looked at Naruto like he was crazy. He spent the next hour explaining to Naruto what it meant to be the King of the Pirates, why he made that decision, and what his prized straw hat meant to him. To Naruto, it sounded a lot like being the Hokage.

"Hey Luffy," Naruto said, causing the monkey boy to look at his friend. "When you become a pirate, let me join you, as your first mate."

"Really?" asked Luffy.

"Yeah," Naruto said, giving a foxy smile to match Luffy's monkey one. "I haven't known what to do since I got banished from my home, but I think helping you will help me find my place in the world."

"Then it's decided." Luffy said, standing up and sticking his hand out. "When I become a pirate captain, you'll be my first mate."

"Aye, aye Captain," Naruto said, slapping Luffy's hand.

_Present Day_

Naruto pulled himself out of his daydreaming and glanced around.

"Hey Luffy, I just realized 2 major problems." Naruto said.

"What?" asked Luffy.

"Number 1, neither one of us knows anything about navigation." Naruto said. Luffy had to agree with him there.

"What's number 2?" he asked.

"That." Said Naruto bluntly, pointing to a raging whirlpool that was starting to suck in their small boat.

"Wow, and the weather was so nice, now it's turning into a disaster." Luffy said, still smiling. "But you know, even if we could get away, I can't swim."

"And I'm not the kind of person who would leave my friend to drown, especially when he's my captain." Naruto said smiling as well.

"Oh well." The two of them said in unison before they were sucked into the whirlpool.

Later, on an uncharted island, a young boy named Koby was pushing a barrel up a hill. He was the cabin boy for the lady pirate 'Iron Mace' Alvida, but he didn't want to be. What he wanted more than anything was to…actually, that'll be explained later, right now, Koby was pushing a barrel up a hill and into a shack where 3 of his 'shipmates' were hanging around.

"What's that Koby?" asked a shipmate who bared a striking resemblance to Frankenstein's monster. "Did a barrel of rum wash onto shore?"

"Yeah, and it's not empty." Koby said. "I wasn't sure what to do with it."

"Well I know what to do with it!" said one of the pirates with blond hair. "Let's drink it all up!"

"But if the captain finds out she'll have our heads!" pointed out Frank (enstein.)

"She's not gonna find out." Said the third, rather pudgy pirate. "It's just the three of us and Koby here."

"I guess you're right." Frank said.

"And you ain't seen nothing right Koby?" the big guy threatened.

"I ain't seen nothing." Koby confirmed. "Please don't hit me." It was at that moment that the barrel burst open and out sprung one Monkey D. Luffy.

"What a great nap!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Wow, looks like we survived somehow." He laughed. "I was getting so dizzy I thought I was gonna barf." He was pushed out of the barrel by one Uzumaki Naruto.

"I'm glad you didn't." he said. "If it was between drowning and dying from the suffocating stench of throw up, I'll take drowning. How did we get in that barrel anyway?" he wondered. It was then the two noticed they weren't alone.

"Who are you guys?" they asked in unison.

"Who the hell are you?" the three pirates demanded. "And what are you doing here?" The shack they were in was suddenly blown apart by something that knocked out the three pirates and sent Naruto and Luffy rolling down a hill. When they finally came to a stop, they found Koby standing in front of them.

"Um, are you guys ok?" he asked. The pair just laughed as they stood up.

"We're ok, just a little shaken up." Naruto said. "I'm Naruto and that's Luffy. Where are we?"

"This is the base of Iron Mace Alvida, the lady pirate." Koby said. "I'm Koby, her cabin boy."

"Well none of that really matters to us." Luffy said dusting himself off while Naruto nodded. "You wouldn't happen to have a dingy would you? Ours got sucked into a whirlpool."

"A whirlpool?" Koby asked, stunned.

"Yeah, it caught us by surprise." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head.

"You guys are lucky to be alive." Koby commented. "And if it's a dingy you want, I think I can help you out, maybe," he lead them to,

"What's this, a coffin?" Luffy asked as he inspected the 'dingy.'

"It took me two years to build it." Koby said.

"Two years?" asked a shocked Naruto. "And you don't want it?"

"I made it so that I could escape from this place." Koby said. "But I don't have the courage to try and use it."

"Why don't you just escape?" Luffy asked.

"No way! Just thinking about what Alvida would do to me makes my bladder weak." Koby said, shaking his head so fast it became a blur. "Two years ago, I just wanted to go fishing and I ended up getting on a pirate ship by mistake. In exchange for my life, I have to work as her cabin boy."

"Wow, your clumsy and dumb." Luffy said.

"Not to mention gutless too." Naruto added. "You really are worthless."

"You don't have to be that frank about it." Koby said. "But you're right; I don't have guts to go floating around in a barrel. Why did you guys go to sea anyway?"

"I'm gonna be King of the Pirates." Luffy said.

"And I'm gonna help him." Naruto added. Koby went wide eyed and started ranting and raving about what being the King of the Pirates meant and how hard it was. It got to the point where Naruto and Luffy punched him in the face to shut him up.

"What was that for?" Koby demanded.

"You were being hysterical." Naruto said. Koby just chuckled embarrassedly.

"I'm not afraid to die Koby." Luffy said, getting the pair's attention. "I've set myself to become King of the Pirates. And if I die trying, then at least I tried." Koby stared in awe of the man before him while Naruto had a small smile on his face. "And I believe I'll succeed too."

"Or you're just deluding yourself." Naruto said.

"Hey!" his captain snapped while Naruto laughed.

"But either way, I'm with you until the end Luffy." Naruto said.

"Maybe I can be like that." Koby said, getting their attention. "If I'm willing to risk my life trying,"

"Huh?" the two pirates asked.

"Maybe it's possible." Koby said, looking up at them. "Do you think I could join the Navy?"

"The Navy?" asked Naruto. Koby started ranting again, about how they might be enemies, but it had always been his dream to be a Navy officer, and that he'd risk his life and one day capture Alvida. And like the devil that appears when you mention them, Alvida showed up out of now where and smashed Koby's dingy to smithereens. She was a large woman, very large, like she was almost a complete circle she was so freaking big. (A/N no disrespect to anyone who's big boned but if you've ever seen Alvida then you know what I'm talking about.)

"You little sneak!" Did you really think you could escape from me?" she roared. "Is that the bounty hunter you hired, well he certainly isn't Roronoa Zoro."

"Zoro?" Luffy asked. Naruto just shrugged at him.

"I'll give you one chance to make it up to me." Alvida continued. "Who is the fairest throughout all the seas?"

"Lady Alvida, you," Koby started but Luffy cut him off.

"Hey, who's the tough-looking old biddy?" Luffy asked, causing Alvida's crew, and Alvida herself, to go slack jawed in shock.

"Luffy, take it back!" Koby screamed, shaking Luffy. "Throughout all the seas Lady Alvida is," he paused and remembered Luffy's words: _I'm gonna be King of the Pirates, and if I die trying then at least I tried._ "Lady Alvida is…the ugliest hag of them all!" Alvida loomed over the trio. Naruto and Luffy were laughing their heads off while Koby was screaming in fear.

"Why you little," Alvida growled raising her mace.

"Good for you Koby." Luffy said and stood in front of him, but felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Captain." Naruto said, stepping forward. "Leave this one to me."

"It doesn't matter which of you goes first!" Alvida roared, bringing down her mace. There was a clang of metal against metal and everyone went wide eyed as Naruto held back Alvida's weapon with his sword.

"You're gonna have to do better than that." Naruto said and pushed Alvida back. He held out his free hand and a swirling ball of energy appeared in it. During his years of training, he'd managed to perform his signature jutsu one handed. "Rasengan!" Naruto shouted and slammed the spinning sphere into Alvida's…it's hard, to tell where her stomach ended and her chest began…let's just call it her torso. The attack sent the Lady Pirate flying away.

"Now!" Luffy snapped. "Give Koby a dingy, he's going to join the Navy."

"Yes sir." The crew said, afraid of what he could be able to do. As they sailed away from the island, Koby was amazed at Naruto's skills and was trying to talk them out of going to the Grand Line, aka the Pirate's Graveyard. Naruto just ignored the pair and was writing in a notebook but when the subject their crew came up, Naruto mentioned that guy Alvida had mentioned.

"You mean Roronoa Zoro?" Koby asked.

"If he's a good guy, I'll let him join my crew." Luffy said.

"Works for me." Agreed Naruto.

"No way, that'll never happen!" Koby screamed. "That guy's a demonic beast!"

"How do you know?" Naruto asked.

"A demonic beast huh?" Luffy said his mind elsewhere.

"Roronoa Zoro is his real name, but everyone calls him Zoro the Pirate Hunter." Koby explained. "He's like a bloodthirsty hound roaming the seas for men with bounties on his head. They say he's a demon in human form." Naruto scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Most people wouldn't know a demon if it came up and kissed them full on the mouth saying 'What's up doc?'" He said.

"Luffy he's a pirate hunter." Koby pleaded. "Pirate hunters don't mix well with pirates."

"I haven't decided whether I'll ask him to join my crew yet." Luffy said. "If he's a good guy then,"

"He's in prison because he's _not_ a good guy!" Koby shouted. Naruto just laughed at the pair and went back to writing.

A day later, they arrived at their destination.

"We're finally here!" Luffy shouted. "We made it to the naval base town."

"Nice job Koby." Naruto said patting him on the back.

"Huh? Of course I did. That's the minimum requirement for those who travel at sea." Koby said. "If you guys keep randomly floating around you'll never be pirates. You should find a navigator for your crew."

"Yeah, we'll look into getting one of those next." Naruto said.

"But for now, let's eat!" Luffy declared. The trio found a little place called Food Foo and had their fill of food.

"Well Koby, I guess this is where we go our separate ways." Luffy said.

"Good luck with the navy and everything." Naruto said. "Here's hoping you become a great sailor."

"Thanks guys. And I hope you become great pirates." Koby said tearing up. "Even though we'll be enemies…"

"Hey Luffy, I think that guy we're looking for is supposed to be on this base." Naruto said. "Roronoa Zoro," half of the restraint suddenly shot to the wall.

"Maybe we shouldn't mention him that much." Koby whispered. "I saw a poster that said Captain Morgan is at this base." He said in a regular voice. This caused the other half of the restraint. The group quickly left the restraint, with Luffy and Naruto laughing.

"What a great restraint." Naruto said. "We'll have to go back there sometime."

"I wonder why everyone was so jumpy." Koby mused out loud. "I mean I can understand why everyone would be afraid of a criminal like Zoro, but why would they be scared of the Captain?"

"Who knows, maybe they got carried away." Luffy laughed.

"Why would they do that?" Koby almost yelled "I'm trying to be serious here." The trio made their way through town and was soon in front of the Navy base.

"It's a lot bigger up close isn't it?" asked Naruto. Luffy and Koby nodded in agreement.

"Well go on in Koby." Luffy said.

"B-But I haven't mentally prepared myself yet," Koby said. "And those people were scared when they heard the Captain's name." Naruto rolled his eyes at Koby's cowardliness, but he had to admit, it was a little weird how everyone freaked out when they heard Captain Morgan's name. While Naruto was pondering this, Luffy was trying to climb up the wall.

"Hey Luffy, whatcha doin?" Naruto asked.

"I'm trying to see if I can find the demonic beast from here." Luffy said. Naruto chuckled and walked up the wall. Literally, he walked straight up and was soon perched on the rail like a bird.

"You guys aren't going to find him that way." Koby said matter of factly. "He's probably in the deepest pit this base has."

"Well there's someone over there." Luffy said, dropping down and running for a better view. "It's probably Zoro."

"What!" Koby yelled in shock. Naruto walked along the wall, perfectly balanced with his hands in his pockets. "How are you able to do that?" Koby asked Naruto.

"I use to be a ninja." Naruto explained. "Doing stuff like this was drilled into my head so much it's second nature to me these days." The group soon had a better view of a man tied up in the middle of the yard.

"There he is." Luffy said while Koby was freaking out. He fell off the wall and started confirming that he was indeed Roronoa Zoro by his bandana and sash, but Naruto was only half listening at most. He was busy examining Zoro. Though he was tied up, Naruto could tell that he was strong, and when Naruto caught the look in his eyes he could clearly see that they were they eyes of a warrior and a killer, but he also saw deep honor and duty in those eyes. Whether Koby's description of him being a demon in battle was right or not, he could tell that Zoro was a good man. Kind of like another 'demon' that Naruto had known when he was a kid.

"That's suicide!" Koby screamed, pulling Naruto out of his thoughts. "If you let him loose, he'll kill us wreck the town!"

"You're thinking about how to get him free?" Naruto asked. Luffy nodded.

"Hey kid!" Zorro shouted, getting everyone's attention. "Come over here and untie me. I've been here for nine days and I can't **take** it anymore."

"He's smiling." Luffy said.

"H-He's talking to us." Koby said, fear dripping from his voice.

"He's serious." Naruto said, telling that he wasn't lying about being hungry. It was a little something he knew from experience.

"I'll make it worth your while." Zoro promised. "I'll capture someone with a big price on his head and give you all the bounty. You can trust me; I'm a man of my word."

"He is," Naruto whispered to Luffy.

"D-Don't Do it Luffy!" Koby begged. "As soon as you untie him, he'll kill us and get away, I just know it!"

"He won't do that?" Naruto said. "He is a man of his word."

"And besides," Luffy said with a smile, "we wouldn't let him." A clunk to the group's right got everyone, even Zoro's, attention. They all turned to see a little girl climb up. She turned and shushed at them. Then she hopped down and started to walk up to Zoro.

"Hey, don't go over there, it's dangerous!" Koby warned. But the girl paid him no mind and walked right up to Zoro.

"What do _you _want?" Zoro demanded.

"Luffy, Naruto, do something, she's gonna get killed!" Koby shouted.

"Why don't you do anything?" Luffy asked. Naruto just ignored the pair, watching Zoro and the girl.

"Get lost! Do you want to get killed?" Zoro demanded.

"I made rice balls for you. I thought you might need some food." She said, holding out the snacks. "It's the first time I made rice balls. I hope you like them."

"I'm not hungry." Zoro said. Naruto narrowed his eyes at him. "Now beat it and take that stuff with you."

"B-But," the girl whimpered, her eyes tearing up.

"I don't want it!" Zoro yelled. "Now get out of here or I'll stomp you to death!"

"Roronoa Zoro! You shouldn't pick on little girls." Shouted a snobbish sounding voice that Naruto for one instantly didn't like. "I'll tell my father on you." Strike that: Naruto hated this guy already.

"Who's that weirdo?" Luffy asked.

"He must be some high ranking naval officer." Koby assumed. "Now that little girl will be safe."

"Somehow I doubt that Koby." Naruto said, his eye narrowed.

"Well if it isn't the idiot son, living off of daddy's wealth." Zoro commented.

"Did you just call me an idiot?" the 'idiot son' asked. "A man in your position should guard his tongue, or he could lose it!"

"I'd pay to see you try." Naruto muttered under his breath.

"Huh?" Luffy asked.

"Nothing Captain," Naruto said. The Idiot Son walked up to the girl and snatched one of the rice balls.

"Did you bring those rice balls for me little girl?" he asked. "How thoughtful."

"Hey, give those back!" the girl snapped. The I.S. ignored her and took a bite.

"Blech!" he shouted and spat out the rice ball. "Disgusting! It's sweet! There's sugar on it! Rice ball are supposed to be seasoned with salt not sugar."

"But I like sweets," the girl explained, "so I figured sugar would be better."

"These are **completely** inedible!" the I.S. shouted and started stomping on the rice balls.

"Stop! Please! You're ruining them!" the girl begged.

"How evil," Koby gasped, "that little girl worked really hard to make those rice balls." Beside him Naruto gave a low growl and started to draw his sword. He was trying to decide whether or not to just shot the Idiot Son in the head a few times or to just chop it off.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the ants will find them delicious." The Idiot Son laughed as the girl started to cry.

"Why?" she pleaded. "I worked so hard on them."

"Oh stop that crying, this is why I hate kids." The Idiot Son said. "It's your own fault. Can't you read the sign? It says 'Anyone aiding this prisoner shall be found guilty of the crimes he has committed-Captain Morgan." He pulled the little girl close to him. "I'm sure you've heard how scare my father can be. If you were an adult, you would be put to death." Naruto was gritting his teeth now. It was taking every ounce of will power not to jump at the guy and obliterate him with the biggest Rasengan he could create. "Hey you," the idiot son said to one the marines that was with him. "Throw that brat over the fence."

"But," the marine said.

"I'm ordering you to throw that little brat over the fence!" the idiot son roared right in the marine's face. "Are you going to disobey a direct order? I'll tell daddy on you!"

"Y-Yes sir, right away." The marine said. He grabbed the girl. "Curl up into a ball, it'll hurt less when you land." He whispered, and threw her over the fence. Luffy jumped into the air and caught the girl, using his body as a shield to take the brunt of the impact.

"Are you ok?" Koby asked while Luffy brushed himself off. Naruto still stood, watching the scene before him.

"My aren't you a stubborn one." The idiot son commented to Zoro.

"That's right; I'm gonna last out here for a month." Zoro said. "You just keep your end of the bargain."

"I wouldn't dream of breaking my word. If you survive out here for a month, I'll let you go." The Idiot Son laughed. "It's my pleasure I'm sure." Naruto looked over at Luffy who had climbed up next to him. The pair nodded and jumped down from the fence. Side by side, they approached Zoro.

"You're still here?" he asked when he noticed them. "Better not let Helmeppo's father catch you."

"Who's Helmeppo?" Luffy asked.

"My guess is the dumbass with two chins, bad haircut, and the fancy suit." Naruto said. Zoro nodded in conformation.

"Anyway," Luffy said, "I'm looking for good men to join my pirate crew."

"Pirate Crew?" Zoro said. "You think I'd lower myself to that level?"

"But becoming a pirate is my dream." Luffy said. "What's wrong with that?"

"You think if you untie me I'm gonna join your pirate crew?" Zoro demanded.

"Well I haven't decided if I'll ask you." Luffy said offhandedly. "You've got a pretty bad reputation you know?"

"Bad reputation huh? Well anyway I don't go for that kind of deal. I've got my own plans for the future." Zoro said. "I don't need your help. I can get out of here on my own. All I have to do is last for a month here, and then I'm a free man. Captain Morgan's idiot son promised me."

"I'm not sure if you can trust him though." Naruto said glaring in the direction he'd seen Helmeppo leave.

"Either way, all I have to do is survive here for one month." Zoro explained. "Then I'll be free to pursue my dream."

"Hmm, I see." Luffy said. "I don't think I could last a week without food."

"I don't think either of us could last a day." Naruto said with a smile.

"I'm different from you guys; I've got more will power." Zoro said. It reminded Naruto a little bit of Sasuke and Neji before Naruto had knocked the common scene into him. But it didn't hold the complete tone of arrogance. It wasn't like Zoro was bragging; it was more like he was stating a fact. "Go look for your crew elsewhere."

"It's too bad." Naruto said as he and Luffy turned to leave. "We could use a good man like you, strong, noble, honorable,"

"Hey, wait a minute." Zoro called to them.

"Huh?" Luffy turned.

"Pick that up for me." Zoro requested looking down at the rice balls.

"You're not going to eat it are you?" Luffy asked. "It's more of a dirtball now than a rice ball."

"I know you're hungry man but," Naruto started.

"Shut up!" Zoro interrupted. "Just feed me, and don't miss a grain of rice." Naruto watched as Luffy fed Zoro the rice/dirt ball and then watched him cough.

"I told you it was mostly dirt." Luffy said. "You wanna kill yourself?"

"T-Tell the kid," Zoro coughed. "Tell her I said it was delicious. Tell her I ate it all." Luffy and Naruto smiled at the man.

Later, they found the little girl, Rika, and delivered Zoro's message.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yep." Luffy said sitting next to her while Naruto leaned against the wall, scribbling in his notebook again. "He ate it all up."

"I'm so glad." She said with a smile.

"Could that guy really be as bad as everyone says?" Koby asked.

"He's not a bad guy!" Rika shouted. "Everyone in town is afraid of him but he hasn't done wrong.

"He got throwned in prison 'cause of me. Captain Morgan's son had a bunch of mean dogs. They attacked me," she explained. "Roronoa Zoro saved me! Besides, those dogs were running loose and scaring everybody in town!"

"That's why Zoro's in prison?" Luffy asked. "Because he hurt that guy's dog to save you?" Rika nodded yes

"Ok, now I really want to separate that pompous S.O.B.'s head from his shoulders." Naruto growled.

"That makes since." Koby said. "Zoro's really scary, but he only goes after people with a price on their heads. And he wouldn't get thrown in prison for that."

"No kidding." Naruto said. "Heck they pay him to do that."

"Captain Morgan and his son are the bad ones." Rika said. "They put people to death for no reason and everyone's afraid of them."

"You're not bowing your heads low enough scum!" laughed an annoying and familiar voice. "I'll tell my father on you."

"Speak of the devil." Naruto grumbled

"Do you want to be thrown in jail like Roronoa Zoro? We're going to hold a public execution in him for three days." Helmeppo laughed marching down the street. "We'll make an example of him! I can hardly wait!"

"Three days?" Luffy asked. Naruto narrowed his eyes. "But you made a promise to him."

"What? Where did you hear about that?" Helmeppo asked. "That promise was just a joke! He's just a stupid beast for believing it!" Naruto and Luffy remembered Zoro's words about Helmeppo's promise and surviving for a month. In a flash of movement Naruto and Luffy charged forward and nailed Helmeppo in the chin, they each hit one of them.

"Luffy! Naruto!" Koby said, trying to pull the two back. "Stop! Calm down! You want to make the entire Navy your enemy?"

"This guy's scum." Naruto growled.

"Koby, Naruto, I've made my decision." Luffy said. "I'm going to ask Zoro to join my crew."

"Aye, aye Captain," Naruto said.

"Th-they really did it?" some of the villagers gasped. "He punched the Captain's son! Captain Morgan will be furious!"

"Luffy! Naruto! Stop!" Koby shouted. "Are you guys trying to pick a fight with the _whole navy?_"

"Scum is scum, no matter who their father is." Luffy said.

"Y-You hit me! You actually hit _me!_ No one's ever hit me! Not even Daddy!" Helmeppo screamed. "I'm Captain Morgan's beloved son! I'm telling Daddy on you!" everyone gasped in fear at the sight.

"Don't go running to your pa." Naruto snapped. "Stand and fight me like a man."

"Luffy! Naruto! Please stop!" Koby pleaded.

"You'll die begging for mercy." Helmeppo threatened. "You're walking corpses. My Father will kill you!"

"He's not worth hitting." Luffy said putting his hat back on, it had fallen off after they punched Helmeppo.

"That was great big brothers." Rika said happily. "I feel a lot better now."

"Then I wish we'd given him a few more whacks for you." Luffy said, Naruto nodding beside him.

"Rika! Get over here!" said a woman, probably Rika's mother. "You shouldn't be talking to those people. If they think you're their friend, they'll kill you too."

"But Mommy, they're good men." Rika said. "And Zoro, he's a good,"

"What are you saying?" her mother interrupted. "You didn't go to the parade ground did you?"

"Um, well, nooo," Rika trailed off.

"Hurry up, let's get inside," Rika's mother said. Rika looked back to see Naruto waving to her while Naruto gave her his trademark foxy smile just until the door slammed.

"They won't let you get away with this!" Koby screamed. "And Captain Morgan has the whole Navy behind him!"

"Yeah, whatever," Luffy brushed him off.

"We need to talk to Zoro Luffy," Naruto said. "We've got to warn him about that two chinned, double-crossing piece of shit." Luffy nodded and the two rushed to the Naval Base, leaving Koby in the dust.

"Hey," Luffy said as they approached Zoro.

"You again," Zoro growled, "If this is about me joining your pirate crew, the answer is still no."

"Call me Luffy, that's Naruto." Luffy said. "I'll untie you if you join my pirate crew."

"You don't listen boy!" Zoro yelled.

"Yeah Luffy does have kind of a one-track mind." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Look, I've got my own mission," Zoro growled, "and it doesn't involve becoming a stinking pirate!"

"You're too good to be a pirate?" Luffy asked. "You, a bounty hunter? Who everyone things is some sort of demon?"

"I don't care what people think." Zoro said. "I live by my own cod, I've never done anything I regret, and I don't intend to in the future. This is why I'll never be a pirate."

"Sorry, but I've made up my mind." Luffy declared. "You're gonna join my crew."

"I don't care what you've decided!" Zoro shouted.

"I heard you can use a sword." Luffy said, catching Zoro off guard. His face turned into a proud smirk. Not arrogant smirk, but a proud one of his own abilities.

"Humph!" he grunted. "If I wasn't tied up I'd show you,"

"So where are your swords now?" Luffy asked.

"They took 'em from me. The Captain's Idiot Son," Zoro said. "Next to my life those swords are my dearest treasures." Naruto smiled at Luffy and flicked his Captain's hat.

"Treasures huh? Too bad they took 'em," Luffy said, fixing his hat. "I know! I'll get your swords from the idiot son."

"What?" Zoro asked.

"Then if you want your swords back," Luffy said with a smile, "you'll have to join my crew!"

"You little rat!" shouted Zoro. Luffy took off running for the base. "Hey! Come back here!"

"See ya soon!" Luffy called.

"He's going into the fortress," Zoro said.

"Yep," Naruto said, leaning against the wood posts Zoro was tied too.

"That's one _dumb_ pirate." Zoro said, forcing Naruto to laugh.

"Yeah, the Captain has his moments." He agreed. "But when you need him, he's there. He also knows the meaning of personal treasures." He gave a small smile and chuckled.

"Something funny?" Zoro asked.

"It's nothing," Naruto said. "You just remind me a little bit of this other demon I knew when I was a kid. He was a tough, dangerous, borderline emotionless bastard. But in the end, when something precious to him, that's when I really saw him become a demon, a demon of vengeance." Zoro looked at him and then the pair noticed Koby walking towards him. "Hey Koby." He said with a wave.

"Naruto, where's Luffy?" he asked.

"Inside the base." Naruto said.

"What? Why is he so reckless?" he asked. Naruto just shrugged.

"Yeah, I've noticed." Zoro said. "Who is he anyway?"

"That's a bit of a long story." Naruto chuckled while Koby started to untie Zoro.

"Hey, now you're being reckless!" Zoro shouted. "If they catch you freeing me, they'll kill you!"

"They imprisoned you unfairly. I can't stand to see the Navy act improperly!" Koby snapped back. "I'm going to become a proper sailor! Just like Luffy's gonna be the King of the Pirates!"

"What?" Zoro screamed. "Does he know what that means?"

"I was shocked when he first told me too." Koby laughed. "But he'll succeed or die trying. That's just how he is." Naruto smiled and nodded. Koby suddenly flew back blood flowing from his shoulder.

"Koby!" Naruto shouted. He and Zoro glared up at the direction of the shot.

_**Commercial break!**_

_Naruto stood in a clearing, glaring at the Mizuki who had just turned himself into a tiger-like monster._

"_You call me a demon, and then throwaway your own humanity." Naruto growled at his former teacher. "That is unforgivable!" His coat blew open to show a belt with a spiral buckle on it. "Henshin!"_

_A power long lost from the world. Now it returns in the hands of Konoha's greatest hero in the making._

_Naruto stood in his armor and drew his sword. "Let's rock!" he shot forward._

_Now watch as he takes Konoha and beyond by storm as Kamen Rider Kurama!_

_Kamen Rider Kurama-The Tests of the Ninja._

_**Now, back to the show!**_

"Ahhhh I've been shot! I'm bleeding!" Koby screamed. "I'm gonna die."

"Good, you're alive." Zoro said. Naruto knelt down to check on the wound.

"It's just a graze, you'll live Koby." He said.

"Get out of here." Zoro ordered. "They're on their way down."

"But, I haven't untied you yet." Koby said.

"Don't worry about me. I just have to survive the month and they'll let me go." Zoro said. "So just beat it,"

"They're not going to let you go!" Koby interrupted. "You're going to be executed three days from now!"

"What are you saying?" Zoro demanded. "That idiot promised me! If I survive the month, I'll be set free."

"He never intended to keep that promise." Naruto said, standing up. "That's why we're here, Luffy wants you for our crew, but I could never just stand by and do nothing when a good man is executed." Zoro was stunned speechless.

"The Navy is your enemy now. Please, if we free you, will you help Naruto and Luffy?" Koby begged. "They saved my life. I'm not asking you to become a pirate, but you three are really strong, and if you work together, you should be able to escape from here."

"Stay where you are!" barked a marine. Naruto looked up to see that they were surrounded by sailors, each one packing heat. "Captain Morgan has ordered your immediate execution." Zoro grit his teeth, Koby started screaming, and Naruto got into a fighting stance.

"Surround the Fortress! If that bastard in the straw hat escapes you'll all be sorry!" roared an angry voice. Behind the marines, Naruto saw a giant of a man with a metal jaw wearing a captain's coat and resting an ax on his shoulder. "You three are simple outlaws aren't you? You're trying to overthrow me!" As the man got closer, Naruto saw that he wasn't holding an ax; his hand _was_ an ax, with the handle sticking out of his elbow.

"Captain 'Axe-hand' Morgan I presume." Naruto said.

"Roronoa Zoro! Peasants and pirates may tremble at you name, but you're no match for one as great as I." Morgan boasted. "You may be a barracuda, but I'm a **great white shark!** Take aim!" Koby whimpered in fear, Naruto was starting to swirl his chakra around him. Zoro meanwhile seemed to have his life flashing before his eyes.

"Fire!" Morgan shouted. Naruto was about to throw up a technique he'd developed, but a shadow passed over the trio. Luffy stood protectively in front of his friends, taking the bullets.

"You?" Zoro asked.

"Luffy!" Koby cried.

"Nice timing Captain." Naruto said, relaxing his chakra.

"Straw Hat," Morgan growled. The marines all looked shocked as the bullets dug into Luffy's body.

"Bullets can't hurt me!" the rubber man declared, standing tall and bouncing the bullets back at their senders. The marines all scrambled for cover while Luffy laughed happily.

"What _are_ you?" Zoro demanded. Koby was passed out on the ground, his mouth foaming.

"I'm the guy who's gonna be King of the Pirates." Luffy declared. "So, which sword is yours?" Luffy asked, holding out the three swords from his back. "I didn't know so I brought all three."

"They're all mine." Zoro explained. "I practice santoryu, three-sword style."

"Seriously?" Naruto asked, scratching his head. "How does that work?"

"One in each hand, and the third in my mouth." Zoro explained. Naruto blinked at him.

"I'd hate to see your dental bill." He said.

"If you fight the navy with me here and now, in the eyes of the government, you'll be one of the bad guys." Luffy said pulling Naruto and Zoro's attention back to the marines that surrounded them. "Of course you could obey the law and let them kill you."

"You must be the spawn of demons." Zoro said with a dark chuckle. "But I'm not ready to die without a fight. All right damn it! You've got yourselves a pirate!"

"Really? You'll join my crew?" Luffy asked.

"I don't have much choice." Zoro grumbled. "Now untie me!" Naruto and Luffy got to work untying the ropes that bound Zoro, but it was slow going.

"If bullets can't hurt him, then use your swords!" Morgan ordered. Naruto looked up to see the marines charging at them blades drawn.

"Uh, Captain," he said enviously.

"C'mon! Hurry up!" Zoro shouted.

"Unh! These knots are too tight," Luffy said.

"Luffy! Zoro! Naruto!" Koby shouted as the marines bore down on. "Look out!"

"Oh to hell with this!" Naruto shouted. He sword poofed into his hands and he slashed at the ropes holding Zoro. In a blur of movement, Zoro grabbed his swords and blocked the marine's blades with them.

"Whoa." Naruto said, impressed.

"Wow!" Luffy said. "He's cool!"

"The first one to move dies!" Zoro growled. The marines all took on looks of fear.

"All right, so I'm a pirate. I gave you my word. I've fought the Navy so therefore I'm officially an outlaw." Zoro said. "But here this: I have a mission to fulfill." Luffy and Naruto looked at him. "I'm going to be the World's Greatest Swordsman! All I have left is my destiny! My name may be infamous, but it's going to shake the world! But you two are making me become a pirate. So if I have to abandon my dream for any reason, then I'm going to make you two commit Hara Kiri (A/N a traditional form of suicide by samurais who felt there was no way to reclaim their lost honor.)

"The World's greatest swordsman, that's great." Luffy declared. "And it' fitting that your new boss is going to be the King of the Pirates. Anything else would make me look bad." Naruto smiled at his captain and rested his weapon on sword on his shoulder.

"Hmph." Zoro grunted. "You talk big."

"Why do you hesitate?" Morgan barked. "Hack those brigands into mincemeat, now!"

"Zoro, duck!" Luffy said, swinging his leg back. "Gum-Gum Whip!" He brought his leg forward and mowed down the Marines, his leg flying just over Zoro's head.

"What are you?" Zoro asked.

"He's a rubber-man." Naruto said, walking forward, his sword was still on his shoulder and he was now spinning a gun in his left hand.

"And you, why didn't you just cut me free in the first place?" Zoro demanded.

"Luffy wanted to be the one to free you, didn't seem like the first-mate and scribe's place." Naruto said with a shrug.

"Hear me!" Morgan demanded, getting everyone's attention. "All you cowards who were whining just now will shoot yourselves in the head!"

"What?" Naruto shouted.

"I won't tolerate defeatists in my outfit!" Morgan continued. "Fire on my order!" the marines, out of fear or some twisted scene of duty, brought their guns up to their heads.

"They're actually going to do it." Zoro said.

"Like hell they are!" Naruto roared as he and Luffy shot past the swordsman. They broke off, Luffy heading for Morgan, Naruto for the sailors.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted. In a puff of smoke, 5 Narutos jumped out, 2 were holding 2 swords each, another 2, 2 guns, while the fifth held a gun and a sword.

"Let's make it showy!" the Naruto with a gun and a sword shouted as they descended upon the marines. They faintly heard Koby yelling at Luffy, but pushed it aside for now.

One of the two-swords Naruto landed between a pair of marines and slashed at their weapons, sending them clattering to the ground. He stayed between them, he left arm behind his back. "I don't recommend doing anything right now." He said coolly.

The other Naruto with two swords flew over the marines and swung his swords that were attached to wires. The blades with battered or slashed the guns in the marine's hands. "Damn I'm good." Naruto said as the swords returned to his hands.

The first Naruto holding a pair of pistols charge at the marines, firing off shot after shot. Marine's guns were being blown apart by the mini-rasengans. That Naruto's counterpart weaved its way down the line, blasting guns with acrobatic ease. It finally came to a rest with its back to the first gun wielding. "Keeping it stylish." The two said in unison, blowing the smoke off their barrels.

The final Naruto cut his way down the line of marines and spun in a circle to finish off the last of their weapons with his gun.

"Who are you?" one of the dumbfounded marines asked as the clones with matching weapons disappeared in puffs of smoke.

"Uzumaki 'Gokai' Naruto," the original said, spinning his pistol around on his finger. His old ninja skills suddenly kicked in and he spun around to block a dagger attack from a marine and pushed the sailor back. "And who are you?"

"Lt. Yamato 'Dragon' Burai!" the naval officer declared. He had dark hair and green eyes. Over his uniform he wore triangular golden armor and held a dagger in his hand. "I will not let you and your little friends bring down the Captain!"

"Tch, you guys started all this when you guys broke your promise to Zoro." Naruto said. "But you do seem stronger than the rest, so allow me to take this seriously." He resealed his gun and sword. He clapped his hands together and a cloud of smoke appeared. When it cleared, Naruto was now holding a spear with the end looking similar to an anchor. "Let's go Dragon boy." Naruto taunted. The two fighters charged at one another and clashed.

Burai was clearly skilled with his dagger, but Naruto had the advantage in reach. He easily blocked every one of Burai's stabs and slash. Burai, getting desperate, threw his dagger at Naruto. Naruto smirked and knocked the dagger into the air with the end of his spear. Then he jumped up and kicked the dagger and threw his spear at the same time. The two blades knocked the armor off of Burai. Then, before the 'dragon' could react, Naruto was in front of him.

"This ends here." Naruto growled. A rasengan was forming in his hand. "Wind Style: KazeRasengan." He thrust his hand forward and nailed Burai in the stomach. The rasengan flew from his hand, taking the Navy Lieutenant with it.

Naruto turned to collect and reseal his spear, when he noticed the armor and dagger.

"Cool," he said with a smile, "souvenirs." He knelt down, pulling out a sealing scroll and place the two items inside of it. He rejoined the group in time to see Luffy knock out Helmeppo with his Gum-Gum Pistol and Zoro slash Morgan.

The trio stood, Luffy looking at Helmeppo, Zoro sheathing his sword, and Naruto looking at the marines.

"Any of you still want to capture us?" Zoro asked. The marines looked at each other before they all started cheering happily.

"Huh?" Naruto said, scratching his head.

"They're happy we defeated their captain?" Luffy said, equally confused.

"That mean," Koby said, brightening up, "Captain Morgan was ruling them through fear." At that moment, Zoro collapsed.

Later at Food Foo, Zoro, Naruto, and Luffy had just finished stuffing their faces.

"Man, I'm stuffed." Zoro said. "Not eating for nine days was worse than I thought."

"See, you wouldn't have lasted a whole month." Luffy said.

"Funny, you two seem hungrier than me." Zoro observed.

"Because of Luffy's Gum-Gum and my own powers, we've got high metabolisms." Naruto said. He wasn't sure if it was true but it was as good an excuse as any.

"Thanks for feeding me along with the heroes." Koby said.

"It's the least I can do!" Rikia's mother said happily. "You four saved the whole town."

"Wow, you're great!" Rika said.

"Yeah, I'm kinda great." Luffy laughed. "And I'm going to become a lot greator."

"Don't let it go to your head captain." Naruto said with a laugh.

"So," Zoro said seriously, "what's next?"

"We're headed for the Grand Line!" Luffy declared.

"Huh? That's suicide!" Koby yelled. "There are only just three of you! If you go there you'll be sailing to your deaths! The most bloodthirsty pirates in the world are there!"

"Well I guess if we're after One Piece, the grand line is where we have to go." Zoro said.

"You agree with him Zoro?" Koby asked.

"What's it to you?" Zoro shot back. "You're not coming with us."

"No but I'm worried about you! Is that so wrong?" Koby demanded. "Can't I worry about…my friends?"

"That's not what I," Zoro started.

"Luffy, we haven't known each other for very long but we're friends aren't we?" Koby asked.

"We're going our separate ways," Luffy said with a smile, "but we'll always be friends." This brought a smile to Koby's face.

"You're the first real friend I ever had." Koby said. "No one ever stuck up for me. I wouldn't even stick up for me. But you guys taught me to fight for what I believe in!"

"That's why I'm going to the Grand Line." Luffy said.

"Makes since to me," Zoro said.

"After we take care of a few things." Naruto said. "Like getting a bigger ship."

"Right, right," Luffy waved him off.

"So what are your plans?" Zoro asked tapping Koby tapped him on the forehead with his sword.

"Huh?' Koby asked.

"You were cabin boy on Alvida's pirate ship for two years." Zoro pointed out. "Watch out for the Navy's intelligence. If they find out about your background, they won't let you enlist." The door opened catching the group's attention.

"Excuse me." Said an officer, presumably the new head of the base. "You gentlemen are pirates correct?"

"That's right." Luffy said happily.

"Um, you saved our base and this town, and we're truly grateful to you. However we're still naval marines and we can't shelter pirates." The man said. "I'm sorry but I have to ask you to leave. But to show our gratitude, we won't report you to the navy." Outside, many of the townspeople protested but Luffy stood up.

"I guess we'll be going then." He said. Naruto stood up with him.

"Thanks for the food ma'am." Naruto said with a smile.

"Luffy," Koby said sadly.

"You're leaving already?" Rika's mother asked. The three pirates just walked out, passing the stunned Koby.

"Aren't you going with them?" the naval officer asked.

"I'm," Koby said. "I'm not one of them." Luffy smiled at the door.

"Excuse me, Pirates." The officer said. "Is that true?" Luffy turned to them.

"Let me Explain." Luffy started. "I know all about his past."

"Luffy?" Koby gasped. "You're not going to,"

"See, there was this secret island. And a big pirate woman, her name was Alvida?" he looked to Naruto who nodded.

"Luffy, don't," Koby begged.

"She was really mean." Luffy continued. "And for two years, this guys was,"

"Shut up!" Koby shouted, punching Luffy across the face. Everyone was stunned into silence and no one noticed the small smiles and Zoro and Naruto's faces.

"Why you!" Luffy shouted and punched Koby back. "Take that!" he started raining down blows on Koby's face. "And this!"

"Enough!" the officer ordered. "Stop disturbing the peace!"

"Hey," Zoro said, grabbing his new captain by the back of his vest. "That's enough." Naruto glanced at Koby. He looked beaten up, but knowing Luffy's strength first hand, he knew that the captain was holding back.

"It's clear that you're not friends!" the officer shouted. "Please leave the town now!" the trio walked out of the restraint, leaving Koby where he was. As they passed the crowd of marines, Zoro turned to them.

"Catch us if you can." He taunted. Naruto couldn't help but laugh at that.

"You know, that was some pretty bad acting." Zorro told Luffy when they reached the docks. "I wouldn't be surprised if they saw through it."

"It's all up to Koby now." Luffy said confidently. "He'll get in somehow."

"Yeah," Naruto said, glancing back towards the town. "I've got a good feeling about that kid."

"Well, it's a good time to be leaving." Zoro mused. "Everybody hates us, that's the way a pirate should leave a town."

"I guess that's true." Luffy agreed as he untied their boat.

"Luffy!" Koby shouted behind them.

"Koby," Luffy turned to him.

"Thank you very much, Cap'n Luffy!" Koby said, saluting him. "I'll never forget what you did for me."

"This is a new one." Zoro said with a smile. "A pirate being saluted by the navy,"

"We'll meet again Koby!" Luffy laughed.

"See you on the seas, Officer Koby." Naruto said as the crew of three climbed into the boat.

"'Ten'shun!" shouted another voice. Luffy, Naruto, and Zoro turned to see the marines from the base saluting them too. Naruto just shook his head and kicked off from the docks and the boat drifted off to sea.

"We're on our way!" Luffy shouted. "To the Grand Line!" Naruto just shook his head and started writing in a notebook he had.

"What're you doing?" Zoro asked.

"Writing down our latest adventure," Naruto said. "It's a hobby of mine. I think I'm going to call this, the Tale of Captain Morgan."

"Sounds like an interesting title." Zoro said as he leaned back.

A day later, the group was just sitting out on the water.

"I'm starving!" Zoro shouted. "Don't you think it's strange that neither of you can navigate?"

"No, drifting has worked pretty well for us." Luffy said.

"What's your excuse?" Naruto asked. "Aren't you supposed to be the biggest bad-ass on the high seas?"

"I followed a pirate I was after out to sea. But I couldn't find my way back to my village." Zoro explained. "So I made the best of things. I went after pirates that were in the area. I had to earn money somehow."

"So you got lost." Luffy said bluntly.

"You don't have to put it like that!" Zoro snapped. "Anyway, what kind of pirate doesn't know how to navigate a ship? It's ridiculous! At this rate, we'll never make it to the Grand Line."

"We've got to recruit a navigator as soon as possible." Naruto agreed. "That way we'll at least have some idea on where we're going half the time."

"And we need a cook, and a musician, and," Luffy listed off.

"Those can wait!" Zoro and Naruto shouted before they fell back along with Luffy.

"I'm starving!" they said in unison. Zoro opened his eye and saw something in the sky.

"Hey," he grunted, "it's a bird,"

"It looks pretty big," Luffy noted. "Let's eat it!"

"Huh?" Zoro asked. "How?"

"Leave it to me! I'll catch it!" Luffy proclaimed. He threw his arms up to the mast of the ship.

"Oh boy," Naruto said, knowing where this was going.

"Gum-Gum Rocket!" cried Luffy shot towards the bird.

"Okay," Zoro said watching his captain fly to the bird.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Naruto said. Luffy suddenly stopped and the bird kept flying. "Oh no," Naruto groaned.

"Help!" Luffy shouted from the trap inside the bird's beak.

"You idiot!" Zoro shouted and grabbed the oars. He started row so fast that Naruto had to adhere himself to the boat with chakra. They heard shouts of help ahead of them.

"Shipwreck survivors? Now?" Naruto asked. "God must hate us."

"I can't stop!" Zoro shouted. "Just grab on and climb in!" they plowed through the people who, miraculously climbed on.

"You climbed on, nice." Naruto said.

"Hey! Stop the ship!" the guys said. "We're pirates of Buggy the Clown." Naruto and Zoro looked at each other and then turned to the pirates.

Thirty seconds later, the pirates had gotten the crap beat out of them and were rowing the ship.

"Thanks a lot you morons." Naruto growled. "You made us loose the Captain."

"Keep rowing." Zoro ordered. "If there's any land nearby, he'll get there." For the next couple of minutes, the pirates said that the reason they were out there was because some woman tricked them, stole their ship and treasure, and then left them to get nailed by a passing storm.

"Impressive meteorological skills," Naruto muttered to himself.

"She'd probably make a good navigator." Zoro said.

"We think she'll make a great _corpse_!" one of the pirates said.

"What'll we do about the treasure we lost?" asked one of the others.

"If we return empty-handed, Buggy will be furious!" the last one said, worriedly.

"Who's Buggy?" Naruto and Zoro asked.

"Only the most ferocious pirates in these parts!" the pirate said. "Haven't you heard of Buggy the Clown? He ate the fruit of the Devil!"

"The fruit of the devil?" Zoro asked. Naruto bit his lip. If this Buggy guy ate a devil fruit, then they'd probably need Luffy's help to beat him.

_**Ok, now to do a little house keeping. Kaizokukage Is, I think, roughly a translation of Pirate Shadow. And if Naruto's fighting styles seem familiar, especially to fans of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, then yes they are the big inspiration to that, just like that naval officer that Naruto fought. There will be other original opponents like that as the story and Naruto will keep collecting souvenirs.**_

_**Anyway, if you guys have any comments or idea, I'm open to suggestions, not flames mind you, but suggestions.**_

_**Read and Review, please.**_


	2. Buggy the Clown

_**All right, here comes the next chapter of the Pirate King and the Kaizukukage! And thank you to everyone that reviewed the story, I now honor your reviews even more by answering your fan mail!**_

_**Dragonblaze66: thanks and I'll update when I can.**_

_**O Jordinio O: screw you bub. Let's see you write something better!**_

_**JJB88: OK, let me just be clear on something cause I've gotten this question a few times: the characters of Naruto's past won't be appearing for a while, they may be referenced, like when I was comparing Zoro and Zabuza, but they won't be appearing. And I am also going with Eiichiro Oda's policy of not really hooking up any characters with Naruto or anyone else. This is more an adventure story and, Sanji not counting because he's a hopeless flirt, no romance.**_

_**Ace6151: thank you and I hope to meet expectations.**_

_**Archangel Igneel: I thought I mentioned Naruto's weapon's origins near the start of the previous chap.**_

_**Greywing44: thank you and I will.**_

_**Bobboky: I hope that's a good 'Interesting.'**_

_**917brat: I hope you like what I put in.**_

_**Naginator: glad you're looking forward to more.**_

_**Uzunaru999: I'm glad you like it; I'm trying to keep to the original One Piece manga, the English version at least. And it wasn't so much Luffy was worried **_**about**_** Buggy, it was more he was worried for Luffy, who he's come to see as a brother.**_

_**White Lightning Black Thunder: thank you and I don't intend to. To be honest, spelling and grammar are not my strong points but I'm getting better. And I'm trying to keep this story set during Naruto Shippuden. I'll keep going and I won't let other's opinions keep me down.**_

_**Phew, that's a lot of reviews. Well here's the next chapter, I hope you guys all like it.**_

_**I don't own a damn thing and I make no money off of this!**_

_The Pirate King and the Kaizukukage_

Buggy the Clown!

The Buggy Pirates brought Naruto and Zoro to the town that they had taken over.

"This is the place gentleman." One of them said.

"So where is everyone?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah the place looks like a ghost town." Zoro added.

"Well, you see," the pudgy pirate said awkwardly, "we kind of took over the town."

"What'll we tell Captain Buggy?" asked the one with big hair. "We're coming back empty-handed."

"We'll just tell him the truth." The hat wearing pirate said. "It was all that girl's fault!"

"You think Luffy's here?" Zoro asked.

"Yeah, knowing the luck we share, he's probably tied up in some cage somewhere on this island." Naruto said. Zoro blinked at him.

"Your guys' luck is that bad?" Zoro asked.

"When we first got started, we got sucked into a whirlpool." Naruto said. Zoro blinked.

"C'mon." Zoro barked. "Take me to your captain."

"Yeah, if we're lucky Luffy will be there or at least he'll know where he is." Naruto agreed.

The three Buggy pirates lead the 2 Straw-Hat Pirates to the local tavern.

"Captain Buggy should be up on the roof." One of them said.

"You're not coming?" asked Naruto.

"No, we want to make sure we get our story strait before seeing the Captain." Another said before the trio took off running. As Naruto and Zoro turned to enter the tavern, an entire line of buildings next to them was suddenly blown apart.

"What the hell?" Naruto shouted.

"C'mon, let's get going!" Zoro said. Naruto nodded and the two took off to the roof. What they found when they arrived was an interesting sight: Luffy was locked in some cage being protected by a red-haired girl wielding a bo-staff. The girl quickly turned around to put out a lit fuse on a cannon that was pointed at Luffy. A small group of Buggy's pirates were trying to attack her from behind.

The two Straw-Hats quickly burst into action. Zorro smashed 4 of them in the face with his sheathed swords while Naruto 2 more with a Rasengan from each hand.

"How many pirates does it take to handle one girl?" Zoro asked.

"That supposed to be a joke?" asked Naruto, smiling while Zoro glared at him.

"Naruto! Zoro!" Luffy shouted at the mention of Zoro's name, many of the pirates got scared, but the green haired swordsman ignored them.

"Are you ok?" he asked the girl.

"Yeah," she said weakly.

"I'm glad you guys found me." Luffy said as Naruto approached him. "Now get me out of here!"

"Always goofing around," Zoro said. "You weren't kidding when you said you guys have bad luck."

"I told you." Naruto said with a shrug. "First he gets carried off by a bird, now he's stuck in a cage, next thing we know he'll get eaten by a whale or something."

"Just get me out of here!" Luffy screamed at his crewmates."

"So, Roronora Zoro huh?" said a man who bore a striking resemblance to a clown wearing an orange hate and coat. He even had a big red nose on his face and what looked like blue hair. Naruto guessed that this guy was Captain Buggy the Clown. "You must have come to capture me."

"I gave up pirate hunting." Zoro informed him. "I have no interest in you."

"Well I have an interest in you." Buggy said, pulling out a set of knives. "Killing you will be a nice feather in my cap."

"Back off, before I pluck out all your feathers." Zoro warned. The crew yelled, cheering for their captain. He charged at Zoro who quickly slice him at the waist, arm and leg.

"Hey!" Luffy said. "That was too easy."

"_Way_ too easy." Naruto agreed, narrowing his eyes. He really didn't like it when the enemy crew started to chuckle at their captain's defeat.

"That was almost disappointing." Zoro said as he sheathed his swords. The crew meanwhile was still chuckling.

"Naruto! Zoro!" Luffy shouted. "Get me out of here!"

"Right," Zoro sighed. Naruto was still biting his lip. Something still didn't feel right. "We can't open this without a key. The bars are too thick for me to cut through."

"Yeah," Naruto said. "Where's the lock? Maybe I can blast it off or something." The Buggy Pirates suddenly burst out laughing.

"Very funny," Zoro said. "Now hand over the keys to the cage before I get mad."

"Those guys are creeping me out." Luffy said. Suddenly, Zoro stiffened. Buggy's severed arm had floated up and stabbed him in the back.

"Zoro!" Luffy and Naruto shouted.

"What the?" the girl with Luffy gasped. "That hand!" Buggy's crew had now burst out laughing.

"What's going on?" Zoro demanded. "That hand…it's floating?"

"The Devil Fruit," Naruto gasped.

"The Chop-Chop Fruit!" Buggy declared as he literally pulled himself together. "That's the Devil Fruit that I ate! You can slice me and dice me all you want but you can't kill me! I'm a Chop-Chop Man!"

"His body is back together again!" The girl screamed in horror. "I though the stories about the Devil Fruit were just myths."

"No, they're real." Naruto said.

"Chop-Chop Man?" Luffy questioned. "This guy's a freak!"

"Says the rubber-man," Naruto said. "But you're right, this is insane."

"Roronoa Zoro! You never stood a chance!" Buggy taunted. "Looks like I missed your vitals but you still took a serious wound!" Buggy's crew cheered for their captain while Naruto was gritting his teeth.

_This is bad._ He thought. _Even with my Shadow Clones, there are some people here that could beat me, this Buggy guy for starters. Luffy's still stuck in that cage, Zoro's too injured, and I don't even know if this girl can fight._

"Stabbing someone in the back, that's fighting dirty!" Luffy shouted. "You got that big nose!" everyone suddenly got very scared.

"You fool!" the girl screamed. "That's the one thing you never,"

"You dare call me 'Big Nose?'" Buggy shouted and launched his hand, holding a knife, at Luffy's face. The blade flew towards Luffy and entered the cage.

"Luffy!" Naruto and Zoro screamed while the girl gasped.

"I swear," Luffy said, biting the knife clean in half, "I'm gonna clobber you!"

"Clobber me?" Buggy laughed. "Don't make me laugh! You three are about to die!" Zoro growled.

"It's hopeless," the girl whimpered. "We're dead,"

"No way!" Luffy shouted, laughing. "I'm not going to die yet!"

"That's right!" Naruto agreed. "We've got a dream to fulfill!"

"And just _how_ do you intend to clobber me _now_?" Buggy demanded.

"Naruto! Zoro!" Luffy shouted. "Run!"

"Are you nuts Luffy?" Naruto asked. "We're here to save you."

"They'll kill you the moment we leave." Zoro added. The two looked at Luffy and saw the smile on his face.

"Oh," Naruto said.

"Gotcha," Zoro agreed.

"They're going to desert us? Ugh!" the girl groaned. "This is why I hate pirates! Now I have to come up with an escape plan!"

"You won't get away so easily Zoro!" Buggy shouted. "Chop-Chop Cannon!" he fired his knife wielding hands at Zoro. Naruto jumped in between them and blocked one knife with his sword and fired at the other, shattering the knife.

"Don't mess with my crewmates." Naruto barked. Zoro got to the cannon and flipped it over so that now it was pointed at Buggy and his crew. To which they promptly started to freak out. I mean wouldn't you if you saw a cannon pointed at you?

"It's loaded with one of my Buggy Balls!" Buggy shouted.

"Light this thing!" Zoro ordered the girl.

"Oh, right." She said and lit the cannon. The cannon fired of a shot that blew apart everything in front of it.

"Now's our chance to get out of here." Naruto said.

"Who are you anyway?" Zoro asked. The girl

"I'm a thief." She said.

"Actually," Luffy corrected, "she's our new navigator."

"What are you talking about? Are you crazy?" the thief/navigator asked.

"I've wondered that myself on occasion." Naruto said. "But Luffy usually has pretty good judgment, so if he says you're ok, that's good enough for me."

"Shouldn't we be trying to get him out of that cage?" Nami asked.

"Oh yeah," Luffy said with his signature laugh, "maybe you're right."

"No problem." Zoro said, spitting out some blood. "You just stay in the cage."

"You're not going anywhere!" Buggy shouted through the smoke. Zoro ignored him and picked up Luffy's cage.

"Don't do it Zoro!" Luffy shouted. "Your guts will squirt out!"

"Then I'll just shove 'em back in!" Zoro declared.

"How can you do this?" the navigator/thief asked.

"I do things my own way!" Zoro declared and picked up Luffy's cage. "So don't give me any lip about it!"

"It's amazing the things a man are capable of doing to protect his comrades." Naruto said and tried to help take some of the weight from Zoro. Together, the pair carried the cage across a few rooftops and set it down.

"Phew," Zoro said.

"How's your side?" Naruto asked. Zoro held it, blood was still leaking through his fingers.

"I've been better." Zoro said.

"Darn it!" Luffy growled, banging his head against the cage. "If only I could get out of this cage!"

"We're in a fine mess," Zoro panted. "Now we gotta finish what we started!" Together, the two of them carried the cage across town groaning slightly.

"I think we're far enough away from the tavern." Naruto said. "It'll probably be a while before they're able to catch up to us."

"We got away for now," Zoro said. "But what are we gonna do about this cage?"

"I can't do anything stuck inside this thing!" Luffy groaned, biting the bars. The pair dropped the cage and Zoro collapsed.

"It's no use. I've lost too much blood." Zoro collapsed. "Got to…rest,"

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Naruto said collapsing next to the cage. "I've got to step my physical training when I get the chance." Everyone looked to the side and found…a dog.

"What's with you dog?" Zoro asked.

"Dog?" asked Luffy and noticed the animal. "Hey a dog!"

"Wonder what it's doing out here?" Naruto wondered.

"Is it real?" Luffy asked. "It's not moving."

"Who cares?" Zoro said. "It's his business if he moves or not. Our business is to get you out of there."

"Maybe it's dead." Luffy said, poking it.

"Um, Luffy," Naruto started, but the dog had already latched onto his face. "Animals really don't like you that much." Naruto shook his head. He created a shadow clone and had it try to slow down the blood flowing out of Zoro while the original took a look at Luffy's cage.

"Zoro was right; these bars are too thick to cut with a sword." Naruto muttered. "But maybe I can shoot the lock off or break it with a Rasengan. Stand back Luffy." Naruto pulled out his pistol and shot at the lock. It broke apart. "All right, it worked!"

"You know, not to criticize," said the thief/navigator. "But the middle of the street is not exactly the best hiding place."

"Hey! It's our navigator!" Luffy said happily.

"I never agreed to that!" she screamed. "I just wanted to thank you for saving me."

"Uh, you're welcome." Naruto said. "What's your name anyway?"

"I'm Nami." she said. "I should have spent more time grabbing the map and treasure instead of getting a key you guys don't even need."

"Map?" asked Naruto. "What map?"

"A map of the Grand Line," Luffy said. "We're probably gonna need it later on down the road."

"Hey you kids." Said a voice, "What are you all doing here?" everyone looked to see an old man wearing armor and carrying a spear.

"Who are you Old Man?" asked Zoro.

"Who am I?" the man asked.

"Yeah, that's what he just said." Naruto joked with a smile. "Is your hearing starting to go on you?"

"Darn Whippersnapper." The man grumbled.  
>"I'm Boodle, the mayor of this town."<p>

"Nice to meet you Mr. Mayor," Naruto said. It was at this point that Boodle noticed the 'twin' Narutos.

"Um, you guys twins?" he asked.

"No, clone." Naruto said as the clone dispelled itself. Boodle blinked before taking the more important matter of Zoro. He grabbed him and carried him off.

"Hey, where'd you take Zoro?" Luffy demanded.

"He's resting. My house is just over there." Boodle said. "That boy's lost a lot of blood. I told him there was a doctor at the refuge shelter, but he said he just needed some sleep."

"Yeah," Naruto laughed. "So what are you doing here in town?"

"I'm here to feed Chouchou." Boodle said.

"Who?" Luffy asked.

"I'm gonna guess the dog that tried to eat your face." Naruto chuckled.

"That's right." Boodle said.

"Why's he still here in town?" asked Luffy.

"He's guarding the shop." Boodle said.

"So he's a guard dog." Nami said. "For a pet food store,"

"Ironic." Naruto said.

"A good friend of mine owned this store. About ten years ago he and Chouchou opened this little shop. They've got a lot of memories here. And so do I," Boodle said, reminiscing about the old days. "See those wounds? He's been fighting the pirates, protecting this store."

"I'm sure this shop means a lot to his master but this is just cruel." Nami said. "Is he at the refugee shelter with the others?"

"You really look for the best in people do you?" Naruto said sarcastically.

"He's not at the shelter." Boodle said. "He got sick and passed on." Nami gasped and Naruto and Luffy shared a brief look. "He went to the hospital three months ago."

"The poor thing," Nami said. "You mean he's been waiting for his master this whole time?"

"That what everybody says, but that's _not_ what I think." Boodle said. "Chouchou's a smart dog. I think he knows his master is dead."

"Then why does he still guard the store?" asked Nami.

"This is his master's store, his treasure." Boodle said. "And I think that Chouchou still guards the store because it's all that's left of his beloved master."

"We know something about that, right Cap'n." Naruto asked. Luffy just took his hat off and looked at it fondly. Naruto also noticed Nami looking at Luffy and his hat.

"I've been trying to get him to the shelter," Boodle said, blowing out some smoke from his pipe. "But he won't budge from this spot. I guess he'd rather starve than leave his post." The Straw Hats plus Nami smiled down at the dog. Naruto actually bent down and scratched him behind the ear.

"Good dog." He said. A roar echoed down the street. Boodle and Nami were severely frightened but Naruto, Luffy, and Chouchou however were completely unaffected by the sound.

"What was that horrible roar?" Nami asked.

"I-It's Mohji, the Lion Tamer!" Boodle screamed.

"Run!" the pair said and took off, leaving Naruto and Luffy behind.

"Guess something's coming this way." Luffy said.

"Yep, think we should try and move the dog?" asked Naruto.

"Well, what do we have here?" said a strangely dressed man sitting on a lion. "I'm Mohji, Buggy's first mate. They call me the lion tamer!"

"First Mate Uzumaki 'Goki' Naruto," Naruto introduced himself. "My captain, Monkey D 'Straw Hat Luffy,"

"Captain Buggy is pretty worked up." Mohji told them. "You guys stirred up a real hornet's nest."

"Hey, what's with that weird costume?" asked Luffy. Blunt as a dull ax.

"What?" Mohji screamed. "Costume? This is my hair!"

"That just makes it weirder." Luffy said, Naruto nodding beside hm.

"Shut up!" Mohji snapped.

"Why are they provoking him?" Nami asked from her hiding place.

"Are those boys addled?" Boodle said.

"There's not an animal alive that I can't command." Mohji boasted. "I can even control that mutt. Shake." Chouchou instead bit the man's hand causing the Straw-hats to laugh. "You're just a no good thief." Mohji said, trying to regain his pride. "You're nothing to me. Tell me where Roronoa Zoro is."

"No." Luffy snapped.

"Those who sell out their comrades are lower than trash." Naruto said, quoting the only useful lesson his old sensei ever taught him.

_Commercial Break!_

_After passing his test, Naruto is now a one man team under the guidance of Kakashi. And now requesting a more difficult mission, Naruto is paired up with his old class-mates, among others, and leaves his home on a mission for the first time. But what sort of dangers hide within the mist that surrounds the Land of waves and what exactly is their client hiding?_

_Find out in Kamen Rider Kurama: The Worst Client._

_End Commercial!_

"Die then!" Mohji shouted. "Get 'em Richie!" The lion pounced on Naruto and Luffy. The two of them jumped to the side and got kicked by Mohji, sending them crashing through a couple of buildings.

"Well, that was fun." Naruto groaned. He and Luffy pushed themselves up after they'd been sent flying through a house and into the next street.

"Wow, what an impact." Luffy said. "Now, let's show these clowns and make that thief Nami our navigator!"

"Aye, aye captain!" Naruto said.

"Hey!" someone shouted at them. They turned to see Nami and Boodle coming around the corner to see them.

"Hey kid, you're alive!" Boodle said astonished.

"How could you survive that?" Nami demanded.

"It was no big deal." Luffy shrugged.

"But how?" Nami continued. "You two demolished a building with your bodies and walked away without a scratch on either of you. That's crazy!"

"Crazy is good." Luffy commented.

"_Very_ good," Naruto added. "All though if it makes you feel better my neck does hurt a bit." He popped it to prove his point.

"Why did you come to this town anyway?" Boodle asked. "Why take on pirates?" Naruto shrugged.

"Bad luck, act of God, the Hand of Fate, take your pick." He said.

"I just figured out why we're here." Luffy said. "I'm after the map of the Grand Line," he shot Nami a look, "and a navigator."

"All be it a very stubborn navigator." Naruto added shooting Nami a look.

"Come on Naruto. Let's go look for Zoro." Luffy said. "We better find him before that weird costume guy does."

"Good idea." Naruto said.

"Don't talk crazy!" the Mayor yelled at them. "The next time that lion will eat you alive!"

"It can try." Naruto said with a wave. The two rounded a corner and felt heat on their faces. They turned to see the pet food shop up in flames and Chouchou barking at it. They watched the fire for a minute before looking at each other and took off. It didn't take them long to find Mohji sitting on Richie.

"You two, shouldn't you be dead?" he asked the Straw-Hats. "You should be dead!"

"It'll take more than just a little kick to kill us." Luffy said. "I'm a rubber man."

"And I've been fighting my whole life." Naruto added. "People a lot stronger than you have been trying to kill me for years and I'm still here."

"Really, who two must have the devil's luck. But that kick must have scrambled your brains." Mohji said. "You'd have to be crazy to tangle with me again! Richie, bite their heads off." The lion charged at Naruto and Luffy. The pair nodded and Naruto took a step back.

"It'll take more than a lion," Luffy said, "to kill me!" he started twisting his arms around each other.

"What are you doing with your arms?" Mohji shouted. "How can you?"

"He already told you." Naruto said as Luffy grabbed the lion's mouth. "He's a rubber man."

"Gum-Gum," Luffy shouted, pulling the lion over his shoulder, "Gavel!" he slammed Richie head first into the ground, cracking it.

"What kind of freak are you?" Mohji demanded, tears welling up in his eyes.

"When the Captain was a kid, he ate the fruit of the Gum-Gum tree." Naruto explained.

"H-He ate a devil fruit like captain Buggy?" Mohji said. "Ok, I'll give you guys all the gold you want, just let me apologize and leave here alive."

"It's too late for apologizes." Naruto said, summoning his weapons. "You're apologizes won't bring back that dog's treasure." Naruto's weapons started to glow as he channeled chakra into them. "That's why we're here to clobber you!" Mohji tried to run away. "Pirate Style: Blast and Slash!" Naruto shouted, firing a shot and then swinging his sword and releasing a wave of energy. The slash gave the shot an extra boost as it flew and nailed Mohji in the back, sending him flying and crashing into a building. Actually, sending him _through_ a builder, er two, actually make that three. Damn, nice shot.

Luffy stood up and put his hat back on. Naruto looked over at where he'd pile driven the lion and saw a bag of dog food. He resealed his weapons and picked it up.

"Come on," Luffy said and the two made their way back to the pet store.

"So, you two are still alive." Nami said when they arrived. "I was hoping that lion would have eaten you."

"Hey, what the?" Boodle said confused. He thought she was with them.

"I ought to kill you two right here before you gather a crew and pillage some town!" she screamed trying to attack the two but Boodle held her back.

"Hey, simmer down now." He said. Luffy just stuck his tongue out at her.

"You wouldn't stand a chance against either of us." He said. Naruto would have agreed with him, but he was faintly reminded of a certain pink hair banshee that had had a hand in ruining his life in Konoha.

"Then let's have it out right here, right now!" Nami screamed, but Luffy and Naruto just walked past her.

"What's wrong with you?" Boodle asked, holding the struggling girl. Naruto put the bag of dog food down in front of Chouchou.

"Sorry, but that's all we could get back." He said, making everyone freeze. "I guess the rest was eaten or well," he looked at the smothering remains of the dog's treasure.

"You did well! You fought well!" Luffy said, sitting down next to Chouchou. "I didn't see you in action, but I know you did well."

"Got those two morons softened up for us to finish them off." Naruto agreed, petting Chouchou's head. Chouchou got up and picked up the bag of food. He started to walk away, but stopped and looked back at the pair. He dropped the food and barked at them.

"Thanks," Luffy said, "good luck to you too." Chouchou barked one more time before picking up the food and went on his way.

"Hey Luffy?" Naruto asked. "Can we get a dog for the ship?" Luffy just smiled at him and noticed Nami walking over to them.

"Sorry I yelled at you." She said. Naruto looked at Luffy who stood up.

"That's ok; I know you lost someone to pirates. I understand," Luffy said. Naruto blinked at the news but started to understand too. "Not that I want to know the details."

"Though, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'll be here for you." Naruto said with a smile.

"I can't take it anymore!" the may suddenly screamed. He started ranting and raving about how he and his people had built their town from nothing after pirates had destroyed their last village and about how he'd be a sorry excuse of a man if he didn't try and protect it. Nami tried to calm the old man down, but, partly due to Naruto and Luffy's encouragement, he was still fired up and ready to fight. (A/N don't get me wrong, it's an inspiring speech, but I don't really feel like rewriting it.)

Before he could take off however, the row of houses beside them was all blown apart.

"My house!" Boodle shouted. "It's ruined!"

"You're house?" asked Naruto.

"Zoro was sleeping in there!" Luffy screamed. The group approached the ruined wreckage that was Boodle's home.

"Do you think that kid in the belly band could have survived?" Boodle asked.

"Hey Zoro, you still alive?" asked Luffy. A groan called their attention to Zoro.

"That is one heck of an alarm clock." He said.

"You're alive." Luffy said happily.

"How can anybody live through that?" Nami asked in awe.

"You'd be surprised." Naruto told her with a smile.

"That tears it!" Boodle shouted. He started going off again and took off to take on Buggy and his pirates.

"Getting yourself killed won't accomplish anything." Nami tried to reason with him holding him back. "You're being reckless!"

"I know I'm being reckless!" Boodle snapped with tears in his eyes. This stunned Nami enough that she let him go. "Buggy the Clown, prepare to face the Mayor!"

"The mayor," she whispered. "He was crying."

"Didn't look that way to me," Luffy said with a smiling Naruto agreeing with him.

"Things are finally getting fun huh?" Zoro asked.

"Oh yeah!" Luffy laughed.

"This is no laughing matter!" Nami snapped.

"Don't worry, I like the old man." Luffy said. "I'm not gonna let him get killed."

"Same here, he reminds me of another old man I knew." Naruto said.

"How can you just stand there laughing?" Nami demanded. "What do you get out of all this anyway?"

"We're headed for the grand line!" Luffy said. "We'll steal that map back and then go there."

"After we get a bigger crew and ship," Naruto added.

"Join up with us." Luffy told Nami. "You want the map and all their treasure right?"

"I won't become a pirate." Nami replied flatly. "Let's just say we'll 'join forces' work together for a common goal."

"I think we can all live with that." Naruto said. "Now come on, let's get going. We've got an old man and his treasure to protect."

"You're not coming too?" Nami asked Zoro as he stood up and walked away. "What about your wounds?"

"They got better." Zoro said bluntly.

"That's impossible!" Nami screamed. Luffy and Naruto looked back at the pair acting like bickering siblings.

"I'm more worried about my reputation than my guts right now. I've got a score to settle!" Zoro replied tying his bandana around his head. "Let's do it."

"I can't wait." Luffy said.

"Hope I can get a good souvenir out of this fight." Naruto said with a smile.

"You guys are crazy." Nami sighed. When they arrived at the tavern they found Boodle being held by Buggy's disembodied hand. Luffy sprinted forward and pulled the hand off of the Mayor.

"I'm back!" Luffy said. "I told you I'd clobber you!"

"I don't believe it." Buggy said. "You three must enjoy pain, but this time you won't escape me!"

"Have fun fighting boys." Nami said. "I'm just here for the map and the treasure."

"Whatever," Zoro said.

"You young whippersnappers, you're outsiders, not your fight. This is _my_ battle!" Boodle coughed. "It's _my_ town and _I'll_ protect it! So don't interfere!" Naruto and Luffy each grabbed one of Boodle's shoulders and slammed him face first into a wall.

"Mayor," Nami gasped. "Whose side are you on? Why'd you do that to the mayor?"

"He was in the way." Luffy said bluntly.

"If he insisted on fighting, he would have gotten himself killed." Naruto said.

"Good idea." Zoro said. "He'll be safer unconscious."

"You're too reckless!" Nami screeched at them. Naruto just shook his head.

"Let's just get down to business." Naruto said, slamming his fist into his other palm.

"Right, hey you!" Luffy yelled up at the tavern. "Big Nose!" every one of Buggy's pirates went slack jawed, Nami gasped and Zoro looked like Luffy had just lost what was left of his mind.

"Kill him!" Buggy ordered. "Give 'im the Buggy Ball!" the radically over powered cannonball flew at the straw-hat pirates.

"You idiot!" Zoro barked. "Don't you know when to shut up?"

"Luffy get out of the way!" Nami warned. "You're gonna get hit!"

"Tell me you've got a plan here Luffy." Naruto said.

"That measly cannonball's not gonna work on me." Luffy said confidently. He started sucking air into himself. "Gum-Gum Balloon!" Luffy's stomach expanded to the size of a boulder. The cannonball and pretty much had the same effect as bullets usually do on Luffy, meaning it hit him and he got ready to bounce it back.

"What the heck _is _that guy?" Buggy demanded. "He took a direct hit from a Buggy Ball! And he bounced it back!"

"You could have at least told me what you were planning," Zoro grumbled. Naruto just gave a laugh.

"I don't think the Captain even knows what he's doing before he does it." he said rubbing the back of his head. The Buggy Ball hit the tavern and blew it to pieces.

"That evens the odds a little!" Luffy said. "Let's get 'em!"

"What _are_ you?" Nami screamed.

"Made me worry for nothing," Zoro grumbled. "Is it really always like that?"

"You get used to it." Naruto shrugged.

"Wow, I thought there was something strange about you, I mean you did pile drive a lion." Nami said. "What kind of human being can do that? How can inflate yourself like a balloon?

"That was the Gum-Gum Balloon." Luffy said. Naruto shook his head.

"That's not what she's asking Captain." He groaned.

"How did you do it?" Nami demanded.

"That's what she's asking." Naruto pointed out. Their conversation was ended as 3 of the rubble.

"You've got some nerve." Buggy growled.

"He's using his own men as shields" Nami gasped.

"Cap'n this is the worst disgrace we've suffered since you formed our crew." Said the pirate that wasn't Buggy and using the lion as a shield. The lion's tamer crawled out of the rubble and the two started getting into an argument that is until Mohji noticed the Straw-Hats.

"That kid in the straw hat and the kid in orange!" He gasped. "Captain watch out for them! Straw Hat's a rubber man and the other one has some other crazy powers!"

"Rubber man? Crazy powers?" Nami asked.

"Yep." Luffy said and stretched out his cheeks. Naruto simply called a small rasengan into his hands.

"So that's why my Buggy Ball bounced off of him." Buggy deduced. "If you knew that, then why didn't you tell me?" He grabbed Mohji by the collar of his shirt with a disembodied hand and threw the Lion Tamer at the opposing pirate crew.

"Get out of the way!" Mohji shouted at the crew.

"Get out of our way fuzzy." Luffy snapped back. Naruto jumped in front of Luffy and nailed Mohji with a roundhouse that sent him head first into a wall. "The battle begins."

"Buggy's second mate," Nami shouted as the guy using the lion as a shield sped towards Naruto and Luffy with on a unicycle. "Cabaji the Acrobat!"

"I'll cut 'em to mince-meat cap'n!" he declared. Zoro however jumped in between them and blocked his blade with his own.

"If it's a swordfight you want, then I'm your opponent." He told Cabaji.

"Roronoa Zoro, as one swordsman to another," Cabaji said, "it'll be an honor to cut you down."

"Hey Zoro, maybe I should take this guy," Naruto said. "I'm pretty decent with a sword myself." Unfortunately, this drew Cabaji's attention to Zoro's wound. He distracted Zoro with something called the "Breath of Fire" and kicked Zoro in his wound. The fight went on like that for a while, Cabaji kicking Zoro in the wound.

Things took a turn however when Zoro slashed his own wound to everyone's surprise.

"Looks like he's getting real serious now." Naruto said. Nami looked at him in surprise. "I've been around fighters all my life, and I can tell when they are taking things to the next level."

"What do you mean?" Nami said.

"Just watch," Naruto said turning back to the fight.

"My goal is to be the World's Greatest Swordsman." Zoro declared. "Is that enough of a handicap for you? Now I'll show you some real swordplay." He placed his third sword, the one with a white hilt, in his mouth.

"Wow, Zoro's cool!" Luffy declared.

"So Roronoa Zoro, you plan to make a fool out of _me_?"

"Can't be that hard," Naruto smirked. "Just look at his hair."

"I'm getting faint just watching this." Nami whispered.

"Go Zoro!" Luffy and Naruto cheered.

"I can't lose, not even once," Zoro said, "to anyone who calls himself a swordsman."

"So you injured yourself as insurance for your reputation. Well don't worry," Cabaji said, "your wounds are severe. They'll make an excellent excuse when you lose."

"It's the other way around! If I lose to you while my wounds are this light," Zoro said, "then I might as well give up on my dream right now."

"You scurvy dog," Cabaji growled. Naruto was so caught up in the fight; the he almost didn't see Nami leave him and Luffy saying something about getting treasure.

Cabaji tried distracting Zoro with tops while he flew into the air on his unicycle after riding up the side of a building.

"Kiba, go!" Buggy shouted before throwing his arm forward. "Low Flying Chop-Chop Cannon!" Naruto blinked for a moment when Buggy said Kiba, but shook it off as he saw Buggy's final remaining pirate charge at Zoro along with Buggy's hand.

Naruto and Luffy sprinted at the same time. Luffy stomped on Buggy's hand and Naruto locked swords with Kiba.

"Stay out of Zoro's fight!" the two shouted at their respective opponents. Naruto in particular was glaring at his.

"I knew a guy named Kiba back when I was a kid, and trust me bub, you're _not_ him." He said.

"Of course I'm not." Kiba snapped. "I am Kiba Kou, the Tiger man."

"I'd say it was nice to meet you if it was." Naruto said. "The name's Uzumaki 'Gokai' Naruto."

"Onigiri!" the pair heard Zoro shout. They both spared a glance and saw Zoro cut down Cabaji.

"Cabaji-sempai!" Kiba shouted.

"How could we have been beaten by such common thieves?" Cabaji said, among other things.

"We're not _common thieves_." Zoro snapped as he pulled off his bandana and collapsed from blood loss…again. "We're pirates! Luffy, Naruto, I'm going to sleep."

"My, what a shock," Naruto said smiling.

"Go ahead and sleep Zoro." Luffy said. "We'll handle this."

"Yeah," Naruto said and turned to Kiba. "Why don't we give our captains some room so mine beats the crap out of yours." He told Kiba and took off running. Kiba growled and followed him. When the two were on another street, Naruto turned to his opponent.

"You're a fool to believe that your so-called captain can defeat Captain Buggy." Kiba said.

"A fool huh?" Naruto said and shrugged. "I've been called worse by better."

"And you're even more foolish to call yourselves pirates." Kiba growled.

"That's where you're wrong!" Naruto snapped. "We _are_ pirates, and Luffy's gonna be the King." Kiba looked at Naruto before he burst out laughing.

"That idiot, King of the Pirates?" he said. "What a joke, clearly this is a case of a fool leading a fool." Naruto growled and bared his teeth.

"You can insult me all you like pal, but you do _not_ speak ill of Luffy or his dream!" he shouted. "Now, let's go 'Tiger Man!'"

To be continued.

_**Ok, cliffhanger. Now I want your guy's opinion on something: Should Naruto's fight with Kiba end early enough for him to help Luffy double team Buggy? Or should I just let the rubber-man give that clown a righteous smack down by himself? And I know I cut a lot of things out of this story, but honestly, I just didn't really feel like rewriting it. So basically the rule is that if I don't write about it, it's canon to the manga.**_

_**Question? Comments? Opinions? Shoot me a review and I'll talk about it in the next chapter.**_


	3. Don't Get Fooled Again

_**All right, I've got a new chapter for you all. Hopefully this will live up to people's expectations of this story. Also, since enough people have been hounding me about it, I'm going to dabble in a bit of Naruto/Nami, since I think that of all the OP characters, I think she would fit best with Naruto. Vivi might, but I might dabble in that in about…10 chapters or so.**_

_**Anyway, FAN MAIL TIME!**_

_**Lightningblade49: I'll dabble on that a bit more in the next chapter's omake.**_

_**andysanime: thank you**_

_**Van der Ay: thank you for the review and I will try and do better in the future. And the Naruto time-skip has just happened. The One Piece one will happen when it happens.**_

_**Piacine: check out an actual One Piece Manga sometime.**_

_**Trinity Fenton-Phantom: thanks, I will, and I'll try. Glad u like it.**_

_**ddcj1990: your wait is over**_

_**Bobboky: thank you**_

_**soulofdragon1: you got it.**_

_**Sevenar: I took your advice and tried to showoff teamwork, but it's nothing too flasy. And I'm going to try dabbling in pairings since I have so many requests for it.**_

_**emerald dragon6: we'll see.**_

_**JJB88: it is isn't it? And Naruto's powers are his ninja skills. Think of him as like another Zoro or Sanji. A borderline ordinary guy who has had incredible training and awesome fighting moves.**_

_**Now, ON WITH THE STORY!**_

_**As usual I don't own a damn thing.**_

_The Pirate King and the Kaizokukage_

_Don't Get Fooled Again_

Naruto and Kiba stood across from each other, their swords in hand.

"Let me ask you something, about how good are you with that blade?" asked Naruto. Kiba narrowed his eyes and brandished his sword.

"My Byakko and I have never lost a battle. We were trained by Cabaji-sempai himself." Kiba bragged.

"Byakko huh?" said Naruto, resting his sword on his shoulder. "Must be strong to have that name; I'll honor it and its strength." Naruto tossed his sword into the air and went through hand signs. "Shadow Sword Jutsu!" A puff of smoke appeared over Naruto's head and out of it fell a pair of identical swords.

"What, how did you did that?" Kiba asked.

"I use to be a ninja." Naruto shrugged. "Now, less talk, more fight!" He charged at the Buggy pirate. Kiba just barely had enough time to raise Byakko and block the attack. Naruto kept up his assault, swinging his sword, while keeping the other behind his back. "Is that really all you've got?" Naruto demanded.

"Shut up!" Kiba shouted and swung his sword. The attack released a wave of energy. Naruto blocked the wave and was pushed back. His foxy smile appeared and he swung his other sword, shattering the energy wave.

"Now that's more like it!" he cheered and charged again. Naruto connected his swords together into a saber-staff. He swung the blades all around his body, once again putting Kiba on the defensive.

"How? How can you be this skilled?" demanded Kiba.

"Little bit of natural talent and a whole love of hard work." Naruto stated. "You said that guy on the unicycle trained you? He did a pretty pathetic job."

"How dare you!" Kiba shrieked and unleashed another wave of energy. Naruto leapt and separated this staff. He threw his blades at Kiba who deflected them easily. Naruto just smirked and started to maneuver the blades using chakra strings. He had remembered the fights he'd seen of Kankuro and Tenten. After a lot of trial and error, mostly error, he'd managed to replicate and combine the techniques. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle as he made his blades dance around Kiba, cutting him as he tried to defend himself from the dance blades.

"Enough!" Kiba shouted and swung his sword in a full circle.

"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" Naruto shouted as he was blown away by the attack and his cloned sword went poof. Naruto landed on the other side of the buildings where Luffy and Buggy were having their fight, his sword clattering next to him.

"Ok, that was an impressive move." He admitted. He glanced over and saw his captain. "Hey Luffy, I hate to admit it but," he then noticed Luffy's hat was gone. Naruto glanced around and found it, his eyes widdened. Luffy's hat was sporting three hole, looked like it had been stomped on, and Naruto was pretty sure he saw spit on it.

"Captain!" Kiba said, bursting out standing by Buggy's side. "That fake pirate gave me a bit of trouble, but he was no match for me."

"Shut up kiss-ass." Naruto snapped. He looked at Luffy. "Luffy, did that Clown Bastard do that to your treasure." Luffy nodded and cracked his knuckles.

"He says he also trained with Shanks." Luffy said.

"That's right, that Red-Haired bastard." Buggy growled and launched into his story about how Shanks was the reason he ate the devil fruit.

"I swallowed a hundred million berries that day." Buggy finished, ending on how he fell into the water to try and get a treasure map he'd dropped. "And now I can't swim and get the treasure on the ocean floor."

"So Shanks saved your life." Luffy pointed out.

"You know the more I hear about that guy, the more I like him." Naruto said.

"That's not the point!" Buggy shouted.

"That's right; Shanks robbed Captain Buggy of greatness!" Kiba roared. "And if I ever see him, I'll kill him myself."

"Yeah right," Naruto said, his sword beginning to glow. "From what I hear, Shanks was a master swordsman, and you can't even beat me."

"What was that?" Kiba growled, his own sword glowing.

"Pirate Style, Slash!" Naruto shouted and unleashed the wave of energy just as Kiba unleashed his. Naruto's attack ripped through Kiba's and struck the pirate's chest, sending Byakko flying one way and Kiba the other.

"Tch, a disgrace to my crew," Buggy said. "And anyway, I'm going to get the entire world's treasure," Buggy stated as the upper half of his body started to float up. "And not have it taken from me!" Buggy flew over Luffy and Naruto and strait at Nami, who was trying to sneak away with a bag full of treasure.

"Damnit, why didn't she just leave when she had the chance?" Naruto said. Luffy meanwhile just approached the lower half of Buggy. "Captain?" Luffy kicked Buggy right between the legs. Naruto couldn't help but fall over laughing.

"Attacking my lower half," Buggy groaned as he tried to get up. "That's fighting dirty."

"Haha, fighting, ha, dirty," Naruto said, wiping away a tear. "You idiot, we're pirates, of course we fight dirty."

"And our fight's not over." Luffy said. "Naruto!"

"Aye aye Captain." Naruto said. He sealed his sword.

"Hey you, drop the treasure and run." Luffy called to Nami.

"Yeah, we'll keep him off your back." Naruto added.

"Leave the treasure?" Nami gasped. "I'm not leaving behind any of my treasure!"

"_Your_ treasure?" Buggy questioned.

"That's right, I stole this treasure and that makes it mine!" Nami explained. "Mine, mine, mine!"

"What a greedy woman." Naruto said shaking his head.

"Ok," Luffy said like he understood it slamming his fist into his palm.

"You have no idea what she's going on about do you?" Naruto asked.

"Not a clue." Luffy admitted. Suddenly, Buggy's legs exploded into a dozen parts.

"Whoa, he's all over the place!" Luffy said.

"Not all of him." Naruto said, pointing at Buggy's feet. The two suddenly wore identical, evil grins. The quickly attacked Buggy's feet, tickling them, pinching them, and jamming the toes into the ground.

"Will you two cut that out?" Buggy demanded.

"Sure, just get over here and fight us." Naruto said. Nami tried and use the distraction to hit Buggy in the face with her bag of treasure. Unfortunately, he just grabbed the bag.

"Will you quit playing with her and fight us already?" Naruto shouted as he and Luffy charged at Buggy's head and kicked it.

"That was for the mayor." Luffy said.

"Thanks for the save." Nami said.

"Eh, it's what we do." Naruto shrugged.

"There's the map." Luffy said and grabbed it.

"My treasure's all over the place." Nami wined. Naruto shook his head.

"You've got priority issues lady." Naruto sighed.

"Not so fast you lot." Buggy said as his floated up.

"You're still alive?" Luffy asked.

"You're not getting away." Buggy declared. "I'll kill all of you! Come together! Chop-Chop," He stopped when all that came back to him, were his hands and feet. Naruto burst out laughing again.

"Where's the where's the rest of him/me?" Naruto laughed/Buggy shouted.

"Looking for these?" Nami asked, standing on Buggy's tied up body parts.

"Well done master thief." Luffy complimented, stretching his both arms back. "Goodbye Buggy." Luffy said.

"No, wait," Buggy pleaded.

"Gum-Gum Bazooka!" Luffy nailed Buggy flying until he was just a star in the sky.

"Nice shot." Naruto said, putting his hand over his eyes.

"We won!" Luffy shouted joyfully. "And now you'll join our crew right?" he asked Nami.

"For the time being. It looks like I'll make a fortune if I stick with you guys." Nami said, having already stuffed a bunch of treasure into a new bag and was hugging it like a stuffed animal. "You have got give Buggy credit though, this is first class treasure. There's got to be at least 10,000,000 berri in here." Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose.

"As an old friend of mine use to say, this is going to be troublesome." He said. He saw Luffy pick up his ruined hat. "I'm sorry Captain. I wasn't here to protect your treasure."

"That hat means a lot to you doesn't it?" asked Nami.

"Yeah," Luffy said, but started to smile. "It's ok though, I can still wear it." Nami blinked at him and Naruto started to laugh. While Luffy went to try and wake Zorro up, Naruto walked over to Byakko. He grasped the handle and went wide eyed.

_You are the one that defeated my previous master._ A growling voice said in Naruto's head.

_Yeah that was me._ Naruto thought back. _You're a sentient weapon._

_Indeed._ Byakko confirmed. _I have already looked into your heart and soul and in addition to defeating my previous wielder, I deem you worthy of wielding me._

_I am honored Byakko. _Naruto said. _However, I probably won't use you in battle very often in favor of my usual weapons. If it is all right, I am going to seal you into a special area until I need you._

_Thank you for your honesty Naruto, I look forward to fighting beside you in battle. _Byakko said. Naruto nodded and pulled out the scroll he'd used to put that Dragon guy's dagger and armor. He quickly made a new storage seal and placed Byakko in it. With that done, Naruto tucked the storage scroll away and went to join the crew.

"How you doing Zoro?" Naruto asked.

"It's no good, I can't walk." Zorro said.

"Not surprising, considering how much blood you lost." Nami said. "I'm not even sure you guys are humans."

"Hey, don't lump me in with them." Luffy said, looking annoyed.

"You're even less human than they are!" Nami screamed.

"Hey we're human!" Naruto snapped. "We're just freakishly strong humans with abnormal powers."

"We should probably wake the mayor up now." Luffy said, glancing over at the still unconscious city leader.

"Hey you guys," shouted a voice. The pirates all turned to see a mob of villages armed with farm tool weapons. "We're the citizens of this town."

"The townspeople," Nami sighed in relief. "Good, I thought it would be more pirates."

"The mayor!" a townsperson said, seeing their leader. Everyone rushed to him asking if he was ok and if the pirates hurt him.

"The pirates didn't do that to him." Luffy said. "We did." The townspeople snapped towards him. If looks could kill, then Luffy wouldn't exist anymore.

"They didn't have to know that!" Nami and Naruto yelled at Luffy.

"But it's true." Luffy pointed out.

"Still," Naruto said. "Some things are best left unknown."

"Are you guys pirates?" the people demanded.

_Ok, depending on how we answer will determine how we leave," _Naruto thought. _If we just say,_

"We're pirates." Luffy blurted out. Nami stared at him, stunned that he would say that, Zoro burst out laughing, and Naruto just hung his head.

"You idiot!" Nami screamed.

"We are." Luffy said innocently.

"Guys, talk later," Naruto said grabbing Zoro, "for now, run!" the group took off running as the mob of villagers charged at them. Luffy laughed as he and Nami carried bags of treasure.

"Why do have to complicate things?" Nami demanded.

"These are good people." Luffy said.

"So?" Nami snapped.

"He means these people are getting all worked up because they love the mayor." Naruto said, catching on. "It wouldn't have mattered what we told them. But Luffy, from now on, let Nami or I do the talking." Luffy just laughed as they turned down an ally. As they got further down the, they heard barking and glanced behind them. Chou Chou was barking at the villagers. The villagers were yelling at him to get out of the way, but the little dog wouldn't budge.

"That is a good dog." Naruto said. "Wish he could come with us."

"Yeah, that little dog really saved us." Nami said. "What are we doing in this mess though?"

"It's all ok." Luffy insisted. "We got what we came for didn't we?"

"Yeah, I suppose." Nami admitted.

"Hey, is that your ship?" Luffy asked, seeing Nami's boat. "It's great!"

"It's ok." Nami said with a shrug. "I got it from some idiot pirates."

"We've been waiting for you girllie." Said a voice on Nami's boat. The three Buggy pirates Naruto and Zoro had come across rose out of the ship.

"You mean those idiot pirates." Naruto asked. The three noticed Naruto and saw him holding Zoro. The quickly remembered who they were and took off swimming.

"What was that about?" Luffy asked.

"We'll explain later." Naruto said, waving him off. "Let's just get out of here before those townspeople show up." Nami agreed with him and let Naruto climb into her ship with her.

"Let's go!" Luffy shouted and then noticed the mark of Nami's sail. "Hey, that's Buggy's mark."

"Well it was his ship." Nami said. Naruto and Luffy kicked off the deck and started to float away.

"Hey wait!" the mayor shouted, running up to the dock. "There's something I want to say to you." He dropped into a bow. "Thank you! I won't forget this!" the Straw Hats smiled at the old man.

"You're welcome Mayor!" Luffy called back. "Take it easy!" as they got farther out Luffy told Nami that he had left behind the treasure she'd given him. Her first reaction was to try and drown him. Zoro laughed at the pair and Naruto just sat there writing in his book.

"I think I'll call this story the Tale of Buggy the Clown." He said to himself.

When she was done trying to kill the captain, Nami started working on fixing his hat.

"Hey Naruto," Nami said.

"Hmm," he replied.

"You've been with Luffy the longest." She said. "What is it about this hat?" Naruto sighed and closed his notebook.

"Tell me something Nami, have you ever heard of a pirate named Red-Haired Shanks?" Naruto asked. Nami thought about it for a moment.

"I think I've heard of him." Nami said. "He was said to be a master swordsman, but at one point he lost his arm. After that he was next seen without his signature straw hat and headed into the Grand Line."

"So that's where he went." Naruto said. "Anyway, while Luffy was growing up, Shanks was like a father-figure to him. He taught Luffy how to be a man and gave him his dream. Luffy told me that Shanks gave Luffy the straw hat and told him to return it when he had become a great pirate."

"So that's why he called it his treasure." Nami said, examining the hat. Naruto nodded.

"That hat is the symbol of Luffy's promise to Shanks and the thing that will always keep him going." Naruto said. They two glanced at Luffy who was sitting cross legged against the mast of his and Zoro's ship with a smile on his face.

Nami finished her repairs of Luffy's hat to the Captain's extreme joy.

"It was full of holes before, but now you could never tell." Luffy said tapping his hat.

"It was no big deal, but don't be too rough with it." Nami advised. Just then Luffy poked a fresh hole in his hat. "What did I just say?" Nami screamed and jabbed Luffy with a needle.

"You stabbed me." Luffy accused, holding his bleeding forehead.

"It's the only way I can hurt you." Nami snapped back.

"She's got a point there Cap." Naruto said.

"Keep it down will you, I'm trying to sleep." Zoro groaned. "And besides that I'm hungry. Share some of your rations with us."

"That's no way to ask Zoro." Naruto said. He looked at Nami. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to share some food with us would you Nami."

"Sure Naruto, because you asked so nicely." She said and handed out some food. "But how have you guys lasted so long without respecting the sea?"

"We've managed." Zoro said.

"Personally, I think it's dumb luck." Naruto said. "Lots and lots of dumb luck."

"Hey, there's an island out there." Luffy said. "Maybe we can find someone to join our crew."

"It looks uninhabited." Nami said looking through a telescope.

"Uh, Nami," Naruto said tapping her shoulder. She looked at him. He was pointing towards Luffy and Zoro's ship. She followed his finger and saw Luffy was rowing towards the island.

"Get back here!" Nami screamed.

"Look at it this way Nami." Naruto said. "Maybe we can find some kind of food on that island." Nami sighed in defeat and followed the others. When they reached the island, Naruto stayed behind.

"I'm gonna stay back and keep an eye on the ships, and Zoro." Naruto said, pointing to the sleeping swordsman. "Nami, stay close to the Captain. If you run into anything crazy or dangerous in there, well, you've seen him fight." He smirked. Nami just gave a hesitant nod before following Luffy into the jungle.

When Naruto watched them walk into the jungle, he double checked that Zoro was sound asleep. He jumped onto shore and bit his thumb. He smeared the blood onto his right hand and started going through hand signs.

"Summoning Jutsu!" he cried and slammed his hand onto the ground. A large cloud of smoke appeared and when it cleared, an orange toad about the size of a pig was in front of him. "Hey Kichi." He said with a smile.

"Naruto!" Gamakichi said, jumping up and down. "It's good to see you bro. How have you been?"

"I've started my pirate journey with Captain Luffy." Naruto told him.

"So you're a pirate now?" Gamakichi asked.

"Yep, it's a small crew right now, just me, Luffy, that swordsman sleeping over there." Naruto said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Zoro. "And we've got this navigator who's more of an ally than a crewmate right now. It's complicated."

"Is she hot?" Gamakichi asked. Naruto sighed and shook his head.

"Not now Kichi," he sighed. "Anyway, what's going on back in Konoha?"

"Well, you know that sand kid from way back when?" Gamakichi said.

"Gaara?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah him." The orange toad said. "Well he's the Kazekage now but those Akatski guys got to him last I heard."

"What? What happened, is he ok?" Naruto asked.

"Not sure, these are just rumors going around the summoning dimension." Gamakichi said. "I'm sorry; I know you guys are tight having Biju sealed inside you." Naruto was thinking and rubbing his chin.

"All right, first off, I want you to get these to Baa-chan and the Pervy Sage." Naruto said, handing Gamakichi two scrolls. "And when you see Baa-chan, if she hasn't yet, have her send Team 8, 10 and Gai to find Garra and the ones who took him. Hopefully their skills have increased as much as I hope they have. Also, could you hand these to the Pervy-Sage." He handed Gamakichi a small notebook. "It's a copy of my adventures so far. Maybe it'll make his new best seller."

"You got it Naruto." He said, taking everything. "Don't be a stranger ok?"

"You got it Kichi." Naruto said. "And say hi to your dad for me." The little toad nodded and disappeared. Naruto sighed and looked up into the sky. "Garra, I hope you're ok."

"So, you can summon toads." Zoro said. Naruto jumped and spun around. Zoro was sitting up in his boat.

"How long have you been up?" Naruto asked.

"Somewhere around that toad telling you your friend was captured." The swordsman said. "You ok?"

"I've been better." Naruto shrugged. "Are you good enough to train?" Zoro shook his head.

"No, I'm just gonna go back to sleep." He said and did just that. Naruto chuckled, summoned a couple of clones and started training with himself. A little while later, Luffy, Nami, and some guy with an afro stuck in a box came out of the jungle with the most mismatched animals Naruto had ever seen.

"So," Naruto asked was Nami climbed onto their vessel, "how was your day?"

"Oh you know, met a shrub man, saw some freaky animals, and helped a man give up his life-long obsession." Nami said with a shrug. "You?"

"Oh nothing much just went over my log." Naruto shrugged. "Zoro just slept." Nami sighed and the group left the Island of Strange Creatures.

_Commercial Break_

_Recovering after his clash with the Demon of the Bloody Mist, Naruto bonds with his former classmates, new friends, and leans more of Waves history. Upon hearing of the plight of Wave and its murdered hero, Naruto's will of Fire is reignited like never before which leads him to his rematch against the former Seven Shinobi Swordsman of the Hidden Mist upon Tazuna's bridge. It's Kamen Rider Kurama vs. Zabuza Momochi, Round 2. Place your bets._

_Kamen Rider Kurama: The Bridge of Courage._

_End Commercial_

"We're being rash." Nami said the next day.

"Why?" Luffy asked.

"Luffy, we've got two dingy ships and just some fruit to eat." Naruto said. "If we go to the Grand Line like this, we'd be dead in less than a second."

"Naruto's right." Nami said. "And if the Grand Line itself doesn't get to us, the most powerful pirates in the world are after One Piece too."

"And we need food too." Luffy cheered.

"And grog!" Zoro added.

"Those two are idiots." Nami sighed.

"Yeah, but they're our idiots." Naruto chuckled. "So, anywhere we can stock up?" Nami pulled out a map and studied it.

"It looks like there's an inhabited island just south of here." She said. "We can stalk up there."

"And eat meat!" Luffy shouted, much to Nami's annoyance. Naruto just laughed.

About a day later, the crew stopped on the shore of the island.

"Well what do you know, there is an island here." Luffy said, sounding surprised.

"Of course, it's on the map." Nami said.

"So there's a village around here?" asked Naruto.

"A small one but yeah," Nami confirmed.

"Damn it feels good to be back on solid ground." Zoro said, stretching.

"You slept the whole time." Luffy accused.

"So, what do you think is up," Zoro said, glancing up at the cliff, "with **those** guys." They heard a scream and watched three kids run away. All that was left was someone around their age standing on a hill.

"I am the notorious Captain Usopp! Feared pirate and ruler of this village!" the guy declared. "So you'd better think twice before invading this village! I have 80,000,000 men ready to fight you!"

"Liar!" Nami said.

"Darn, she saw right through me." Usopp said.

"See? I knew it." Nami said.

"Darn, she got me to admit it." Usopp cried. "She must me a master interrogator."

"Even if she is," Naruto said. "At this point, you're just an idiot."

"And you're funny." Luffy laughed.

"Hey, are you laughing at me?" Usopp demanded. "I'm a proud man! That's why they call me Proud Captain Usopp!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Naruto said. "You know any a place where we can get some food?"

Usopp lead the Straw Hats to the town inn where they explained their situation and got some food. Well, Nami explained the situation, the boys all ate. Usopp told them about the rich girl at the village mansion.

Apparently her parents had died about a year ago and left her everything. But for the past year she'd been bedridden with some kind of illness.

"She's rich and lives in luxury," Usopp said. "But no one's more unfortunate than her." Naruto thought about Usopp's story. From the sound of it, this girl had gotten all the luxuries of a certain teme, but felt all the misery that Naruto himself had known while growing up.

"Forget it." Nami said, pulling Naruto from his thoughts. "We're not gonna find a ship here. We'd better try another time."

"Yeah, I've got a belly full of meat now and time to spare." Luffy smiled. "Let's get some supplies and go."

"By the way, you said you were looking for people to join your crew right?" Usopp said. "I'm your man; I'll be your captain." Naruto grabbed Usopp by the front of his shirt and pulled him close.

"This crew has a captain." He growled. "Try and muscle in on that, and you _will_ regret it."

"O-Ok," Usopp wimpered. He glanced at his watch. "Time to go." He muttered and took off.

"Was that really necessary?" Nami asked.

"Sorry, but Luffy's our captain, I'm not going to let anyone else try and do otherwise." Naruto said. "Let's just finish eating and then figure out our next move." Everyone seemed to agree to that so they finished their meals. It was around the time they finished that the door to the inn burst open and three young voices shouted. "Usopp's Pirates are here!" The Straw Hats looked at the newcomers; they were three kids one looking like a carrot, another like a pepper, and the third like an onion.

"Who're they?" Nami asked.

"Beats me," Luffy said taking a drink.

"They look kind of familiar though." Naruto said.

"Hey you pirates!" shouted the kid who looked like a carrot.

"What did you do with your captain?" demanded the kid that looked like a pepper.

"Give him back!" demanded the onion kid.

"That meat was delicious." Luffy said.

"Meat?" the kids gasped. "The Captain, he couldn't have," Nami giggled at the boys and Zoro got an evil smirk worthy of Naruto.

"If you're looking for the captain," he told the terrified children, "he just got gobbled up."

"Ogeress!" they yelled, looking at Nami.

"Why are you looking at me?" Nami screamed. The kids passed out and Naruto and Zoro were laughing.

"That was good Zoro." Naruto congratulated.

"It's not funny!" Nami snapped, but the boys kept laughing anyway.

"Anyway," Luffy said, ignoring his crew's antics. "Your captain just left, he said it was time to go."

"Time to go?" asked Pepper.

"That's what he said." Zoro confirmed as he finished laughing. "Then he left."

"It was probably time for him to go up to the mansion." Pepper said.

"The mansion where the sick girl lives?" asked Nami.

"Yeah," Carrot confirmed.

"Why would he go there?" Luffy asked.

"To tell lies," Carrot said.

"That's not very nice." Naruto said.

"No it is; it's **very **nice." Pepper said. "Right?"

"Yeah it's great!" Onion said.

"Anyone else lost here?" asked Naruto. The kids explained that the girl in the mansion, Kaya, was stuck in bed and Usopp would go there to tell her stories about his 'adventures at sea' to cheer her up.

"Hey!" Luffy cried. "He _is_ a nice guy."

"So he's been making up stories to cheer her up for the past year?" asked Nami.

"Yep, that's what I like about the Captain." Carrot said. "He's a meddler."

"I like the Captain because he's so bossy." Pepper said.

"I like the Captain because he's so boastful." Onion said.

"Well, those are certainly good qualities." Zoro said and sweat-dropped.

"Then that girl's spirits must not be too low right now right?" Luffy asked. Naruto raised an eye brow.

"That's right, thanks to the Captain." Carrot said. Luffy started to smile, a smile Naruto knew pretty well.

"Here we go." He muttered.

"That settles it." Luffy said, jumping to his feet. "Let's go ask her to give us a ship."

"I thought we already agreed **against** that idea." Nami said.

"No you said it wouldn't happen," Naruto pointed out, "The Captain may have agreed with you at the time, but it looks like he changed his mind."

"Looks like Luffy and those kids and Luffy already took off for the mansion." Zoro said.

"Go on ahead Zoro." Naruto told the swordsman, whom Naruto was thinking of as the crew's second mate. "Nami and I will handle the bill." Zoro nodded and slid out. Nami tried sneaking out too, but Naruto grabbed her wrist. "I said _we_ would cover the bill Miss Navigator."

"Why do I have to help pay?" Nami demanded.

"Because we're the only ones on this crew with money," Naruto pointed out. Nami then gave him a woman's secret weapon: the puppy-dog eyes. Naruto however, wasn't fazed. "Just help with the bill." He snapped. Nami pouted and placed down enough money for Naruto to pay the rest and left. When she was gone however, Naruto let out a low breath.

"Why do I find myself attracted to aggressive women." He muttered. "First Sakura and now Nami," He shook his head and ran to catch up with the rest of the crew. He finally caught up with them in front of the gates to a huge mansion.

"Hey, you in there!" shouted Luffy. "Give me a ship!"

"I don't think they heard you Luffy." Naruto chuckled.

"Well I know how to see them." Luffy said and launched his arms onto the top of the gate. "Gum-Gum,"

"Not again," Naruto groaned. "Everyone grab on and hang on for dear life." Everyone did as Naruto said.

"Rocket!" Luffy finished and shot into the air with the crew and kids clinging onto him. They flew through the air and crashed into a tree. Everyone crashed down until they were hanging from branches.

"Luffy, I hereby forbid you from using the Gum-Gum Rocket to launch yourself into the air." Naruto said, hanging upside-down like a bat. Luffy just laughed. Naruto looked up, er down, he was looking at the base of the tree lets go with that. He was looking at the base of the tree and found Usopp sitting there staring at them along with a blond girl inside the house. "Yo." He said with a smile. Usopp and the girl waved at them.

"Um, Usopp, where are they?" the girl asked.

"You must be the mistress of this mansion." Luffy said as he and Naruto dropped down, everyone else slowly following.

"Oh they've heard of my reputation and wanted to join my crew." Usopp said, throwing his arms around Luffy and Naruto's shoulders. "They're my newest crewmembers."

"No we're not." Naruto snapped, ducking under Usopp's arm. "Actually miss, Kaya, correct?" she nodded. "My captain was hoping to ask you for a favor." He gestured to Luffy.

"A favor?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Luffy said jumping forward. "We're looking for a big sturdy ship!" he said, throwing his arms out for emphasis.

"What is the meaning of this!" demanded a lout enraged voice. "You do realize your trespassing?" Naruto looked at the man who'd shouted. He wore a black suit, glasses, and appeared to have poop designs on his breasts. From Kaya's and Usopp's reactions, this guy was Kaya's butler, some guy named Klahadore.

"Klahadore, these people were just," Kaya started.

"Save your excuses for later!" Klahadore interrupted.

"Hey, let the lady speak." Naruto snapped, but the butler ignored him.

"You all must leave immediately." Klahadore declared. "Unless you have some business here,"

"I want a big sturdy ship." Luffy said.

"I can't help you." Kalhadore said.

"Then it's a good thing we're not asking _you_," Naruto said. "We're asking _her_." He gestured to Kaya.

"You! You're Usopp aren't you?" Klahadore said, again ignoring Naruto. "Your reputation precedes you. You're the talk of the village."

"Um, thank you. You can call me Captain Usopp if you'd like." Usopp said. "But there's no real need for flattery."

"The guards have seen you lurking around the estate." Klahadore continued. "Do you have business being here?"

"I saw a legendary mole enter the estate." Usopp said, lying through his teeth. "I'm trying to capture him."

"Hmph, you have a gift for deceit." Klahadore muttered.

"What?" Usopp asked, confused.

"I've also heard stories about your father. You're the son of a filthy pirate." Klahadore accused. "I won't put anything past you. Stay away from mistress Kaya."

"Wow, his dad's a pirate." Luffy said. Zorro was eyeing the situation indifferently but his grip was tightening on his katana. Nami was looking angry, probably because of her hatred of pirates, even though that butler was starting to anger her too. Naruto meanwhile was holding his hand, a Rasengan of red chakra slowly forming.

"A filthy pirate," Usopp growled.

"You and Miss Kaya are from completely different worlds." Klahadore went on. "If its money you're after, then how much do you want?" Kaya was greatly shocked by that.

"You've gone too far Klahadore!" she screamed. "Apologize to Usopp!"

"Why should I apologize? I'm only speaking the truth."" Klahadore stated. "But I do feel sorry for you, your treasure crazed, idiot father did abandon you."

"Klahadore!" Kaya screamed at him.

"Stop badmouthing my father!" Usopp roared.

"What are you getting so worked up about?" asked the butler, pushing up his glasses with the heel of his palm. "Why not just fabricate some of your outrageous lies about your father? Just say he's really a merchant or that he's not your real father, or perhaps," he stopped as Usopp charged, but Naruto himself blew past him and slammed his fist into his stomach, taking every ounce of will power not to make it a Rasengan.

"That's enough out of you." Naruto growled. "I know you're type, you think you're better than everyone else and look down your nose at them. But I also know Usopp's type. And he is 10 times the man you could ever dream to be." He pulled his fist out of Klahadore's stomach and walked back to the others. "Sorry for taking your punch, but I hate guys like him." Usopp nodded to him. He turned to glare at Klahadore.

"I'm proud that my father's a pirate, a brave warrior of the sea!" he declared. "You're right that I _do_ make up stories. But there's one thing that I'll never lie about, and that's my pirate heritage! I'm the son of a pirate!"

"Captain," the kids said, impressed.

"A pirate, 'a brave warrior of the sea?' That's a deceitful twist of the truth." Klahadore mocked, coughing as he stood up from Naruto's punch. "But I know you're only kind to Miss Kaya because you're after her."

"What?" Usopp growled.

"I'm onto your scheme you scalawag!" Klahadore shouted. "You're trash, just like your pirate father!"

"That's enough!" Usopp shouted and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Stop Usopp! Please, no more violence!" Kaya pleaded. Usopp's fist shook with rage and some self-control. "Klahadore's not a bad person, he takes care of me. He only wants what's best for me. He just…went too far."

"There's going to far Miss Kaya." Naruto said. "And there's just being insulting. Your butler is the latter. And trust me when I say that sometimes the people you think you can trust the most and the least faithful ones." He grits his teeth as he remembered the damn civilian council.

"Leave the grounds." Klahadore ordered, slapping Usopp's hand away. "This is no place for ruffians like you! Leave these grounds and never return!"

"Fine, have it your way. I'm leaving," Usopp said, walking away. "And I'm never coming back!" Everyone watched his retreating back.

"Stupid smelly butt-ler!" Carrot shouted. "The captain's a great guy!"

"Yeah, fool!" Pepper added.

"Dumb fool!" Onion continued.

"Knuckle-Head!" Luffy shouted.

"You too Luffy?" Zoro said, slapping his captain in the back of the head. Luffy and the kids tried to charge at Klahadore, but Zoro and Nami held them back respectively.

"Get off this property at once!' Klahadore roared. Zoro and Nami dragged Luffy and the kids away. Nauro meanwhile just stood there, glaring at Klahadore. "Something you want to say?" Naruto kept the glare up before he gave a cunning smirk.

"Just that this isn't the last time you'll be seeing us butt-ler." He said. "And the next time we meet, it won't end well for you." With that he turned and followed his crewmates. He eventually found Zoro and Nami leaning against a fence with Pepper and Carrot.

"Yo, where's Luffy?" Naruto asked.

"Who know?" Zorro said with a shrug. "Maybe he went after the 'captain.'" He said that last part sarcastically.

"I know where the captain went." Carrot said.

"Yeah, to the beach!" added Pepper. "He always goes there when he's depressed."

"Want to see?" the kids asked in unison, freaking out the Straw Hats a bit.

"Uh, no thanks," Zoro said.

"Maybe later." added Naruto. "Anyway, weren't there one more of you? Onion I think?"

"He's always disappearing." Pepper said offhandedly.

"And then he always comes back screaming about something." Carrot added. And just like that, Onion came running screaming about a 'horrible backwards man!' No one believed him until they actually saw a tall, thin man walking backwards towards them.

"Well, that's different." Naruto said. Nami just nodded in agreement.

"Hey, who are you calling strange?" the man demanded when he reached the group. "I'm not strange."

"You're a little strange." Nami said.

"Don't be silly, I'm just your average, everyday traveling hypnotist." The man countered.

"Oh yeah, that's normal." Naruto said sarcastically rolling his eyes. The kids however were completely enthralled at the idea of the hypnotist. Although after the hypnotist went on about how he wouldn't preform his craft for strangers, he did just that and he ended up hypnotizing himself along with the kids, putting all four of them to sleep.

"Now that's strange!" Zoro declared.

"No kidding," Naruto agreed. "This guy's the biggest weirdo I've ever met, and I've known some real freaks." The hypnotist had been the first one to awaken and left on his way. The kids all woke up a little while later.

"So Naruto, what was your life like before you met Luffy?" asked Nami.

"If I had to describe it in one word, I'd say it was wasteful." Naruto said. "I spent the first dozen years of my life trying to gain recognition for a village that would only ever see me as a demon."

"Why would they see you as a demon?" asked Nami. Naruto bit his lip.

"I'm sorry Nami, but I don't think I'll be sharing that information just yet." He said. "It's sort of a personal subject." Nami blinked but nodded in understanding, she also had things in her past she wasn't ready to share. "Anyway, I tried my hardest to get them to recognize me for me, and a handful of them did, but the ones who had most of the power got me banished from the village."

"I'm sorry Naruto." Nami said. Naruto just chuckled and smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it Nami, it I hadn't gotten banished, I would never have met you guys." He said. "I think everything turned out for the best."

"Whoa, what's that?" Zoro asked. Everyone else followed his line of sight and saw a cloud of dust coming towards them.

"That would be a cloud of dust created by someone running very, _very, _fast." Naruto said. The person running shot past them without pausing.

"Was that the captain?" the kids asked.

"It was either him or Rock Lee." Naruto said.

"Who?" asked Nami.

"An old friend of mine," Naruto said. "He's trained his body with weights to be faster than the human eye."

"Strange, I thought Luffy would be with him." Zoro said.

"You think he's still upset about what the butler said about his family?" asked Nami.

"Who knows," Zoro shrugged but Naruto was shaking his head.

"His face was pale as a sheet, something happened." He said. "Hey kids, how do we get to the beach?"

"I smell trouble." Carrot said.

"That hypnotist was headed to the beach too." Pepper added.

"It's time for Usopp's Pirates to take action!" Onion declared.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Zoro said, his voice a little harsher than Naruto's. "But how do we get to the beach?"

_Life in Konoha, pt 1_

Tsunade sat at her desk, depressed as usual. It had been three long years since the civilian council had gotten Naruto banished and she hated every second of it. Jiraya was beside her in her office. He'd just gotten word through his spy network that the new Kazekage, Garra, had gotten kidnapped by that Akataski. If Naruto was there, Tsunade would have sent him without a second's hesitation. The council wanted to send the Uchiha and his team to save the Kazekage, and it was looking like Tsunade would have to.

A puff of smoke in the middle of her office brought her out of her thoughts.

"Yo Jirata, Tsunade," said Gamakichi as the smoke cleared. "Good you're both here."

"Gamakichi, what are you doing here?" asked Jiraya.

"I've got news from Naruto." Gamakichi said. He handed Jiraya and Tsunade the papers Naruto had given him, including Naruto's log to Jiraya.

Jiraya opened up his letter and began to read:

Dear Pervy Sage,

I hope this reaches you at a time where you'll get busted by some women and get the ass whopping you deserve. If not, oh well, maybe next time. Anyway, I want to thank you for telling me where to go after I got kicked out of Konoha. The place you sent me to was the perfect place for me.

I've also gotten pretty good with the Rasengan, I only need one hand now. I've also gotten pretty good with other fighting styles; hopefully I'll get to show you someday. I think you'd really like Captain Luffy, he's a lot like us, except maybe a little crazier. Hard to believe right? Anyway, take care of Baa-chan and for Kami's sake, tell her you love her. I think she needs it now more than ever, you know?

Your loyal and grateful student,

Uzumaki "Gokai" Naruto.

"Even 3 years later and Kami knows where, the kid still doesn't respect me." Jiray said, but smiled and started flipping through Naruto's log. Tsunade was looking through the letter Naruto had written her.

Dear Baa-Chan,

I know you're still blaming yourself for my banishment. So let me tell you: STOP IT! I don't blame you, I never _will _blame you, so stop blaming yourself you old hag! If anything I blame that useless civilian council, may their souls forever burn in Hell for all eternity! I hope you've found a way to disband them by now.

Now that that's out of the way, I miss you Granny. I know you're doing your grandpa, grand-uncle, and teacher proud. I just wish I was there to take the hat and chair away from you. But all things said, I'm happy with my new life. I've made myself something of a new family. I hope you get the chance to meet them someday.

I've enclosed within this letter some seals with letters to some of my old friends. If you think they deserve to have them, please pass them along. And if you could, please tell Kakashi he was a useless baka of a teacher, Sasuke that he's never been able to beat me before and he never will, and Sakura that she was nothing but a loud-mouthed bitch.

I miss you Baa-chan. Say hi to Shizune for me and try to get the Pervy Sage to take you out to dinner or something. Put that porn-money he makes to good use.

Love,

Uzumaki "Gokai" Naruto

Tsunade lowered the letter, tears glistening in her eyes.

"That little brat," she said, crying slightly. Jiraya walked over and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Not to break up the moment, but have you sent out a team for the Kazekage yet?" Gamakichi asked. Tsunade shook her head. "Naruto suggested sending teams 8, 10, and Gai." Tsunade blinked at the idea before going wide-eyed in realization.

"Of course, Team Kurinai would be perfect for tracking down Garra, Team Gai can handle almost any opponent they come across, and Team Asuma would be perfect for extracting Gaara if necessary." Jiraya said and looked at Tsunade who was already on her feet.

"Shizune!" she shouted as her apprentice walked into the room.

"First off, Naruto says hi." Tsunade said getting Jiraya to shake his head and chuckle. "Second, get me teams Kurinai, Gai, and Asuma. I've got an S-ranked mission for them!"

_**All right, that's the end of this chapter. I think it's a bit better than my last chapter I've got a bit of a surprise for the next chapter's big fight scene. You'll just have to wait and see what happens. Aren't I evil?**_

_**Anyway, I'd like your opinions of the life in Konoha bit, it'll just be little looks into the life of the Konoha folks.**_

_**As always, read and review. Or else no more chapters.**_


	4. Black Cat Pirates

_**Ok, sorry for the delay but here's the next chapter, it's a little short but hopefully you, my glorious readers, won't hate me for it. And now, on to fan mail!**_

_**andysanime: thank you for the praise my friend.**_

_**ddcj1990: thank you.**_

_**LIghtningblade49: I'm glad you like Naruto's log to book idea and I do plan on keeping the POV going.**_

_**Ryo no Kitsune: I'll explain gokai in the next chapter, not really planning on the inheritance thing, and the souvenirs will come into play much MUCH later in the story.**_

_**Ultimate-Zelda-fan: I honestly hadn't thought of that but I will take it into consideration.**_

_**soulofdragon1: thank you.**_

_**Darkness-Over-Evil: grow up.**_

_**DragonFire Princess: thanks, I'll keep it going.**_

_**Guest who reviewed on 7/4/12: I'm trying to keep them blended well and no need to thanks me for writing, it's my passion.**_

_**All right now, I don't own a damn thing and on with the story.**_

The vegetable trio led the Straw Hats to the beach. They looked around and found Luffy…sleeping…on his head.

"Is he ok?" Zoro asked.

"He's not," Nami started. Naruto squatted down and poked Luffy with a nearby stick. In response, Luffy snored.

"Out cold." He said. Everyone else did an anime fall. Naruto unfolded the unconscious captain and started slapping his face.

"It doesn't look like that's working." Zoro said.

"Well, then, there's only one thing to do." Naruto said. "Hey Luffy, I've got some fresh meat here." Luffy's eyes snapped open and he sprang to his feet.

"Meat!" he shouted and looked around. "Hey what's going on?"

"That's what we'd like to know." Nami said.

"Well I was talking with Usopp and we saw that butt-ler and some weird guy talking about how there was some plan to kill Miss Kaya." Luffy said. "They said they were bringing in a whole pirate crew to do it. They also said his name was Captain Kuro or something."

"What?" Carrot screamed.

"Miss Kaya's going to be killed?" asked Pepper.

"Really Mr. Straw Hat Man?" asked Onion. "Are Pirates really going to attack the village?"

"Yep!" said Luffy. "That's what they said."

"Kind of an odd place for a nap though doesn't you think?" Zoro asked Luffy.

"It's weird though," Luffy said. "I thought I was at the _top_ of the cliff."

"Hang on, that guy talking to Klahadore, did he wear heart-shaped glasses and have a stripped beard?" asked Naruto.

"Now that you mention it," Luffy said.

_It must have been that hypnotist, he somehow hypnotized Luffy and he fell off the cliff._ Naruto thought and looked up. _Good thing he's a rubber man, or else he'd probably be dead._ While Naruto was thinking, Nami was saying about how Usopp's warning would be enough of a heads up for the people to leave town. Naruto looked at Nami after the kids had taken off.

"You're forgetting one thing Nami." he told her. "Usopp is the town liar; most people probably aren't going to believe him."

"Oh no!" shouted Luffy. "I've got to get some meat from the butcher before he leaves!" Nami smacked Luffy while Naruto smacked himself. The Straw Hats all ran to catch up with the kids. When they caught up with them, they also found Usopp up the road. When Naruto saw him, he saw that he was rubbing tears out of his eyes, and Naruto could smell blood.

"Hey guys." Usopp said when they came into view. Then he went bug-eyed at the sight of Luffy. "You're alive?" he asked.

"Of course," Luffy said. "I must have just dozed off."

"He took a long nap." Pepper said. "Captain we heard about the pirate invasion! We've got to warn everyone!"

"Warn everyone," Usopp muttered. Naruto could see the indecision dancing on his face before he suddenly started laughing. "I just made it all up as usual. I just got so mad at that butler I made up a story about him being a pirate!"

"Huh?" The Straw Hats all looked at one another. The kids all muttered to each other about their captain's lies trying to hurt Klahador and about how he 'fooled' Luffy before they started wandering home. Usopp meanwhile lead the Straw Hats back to the beach. Usopp dropped down onto a rock and the others stood around him.

"It's because I'm a liar. I should have known that no one would believe me." Usopp said, more to himself than the others.

"But the facts are that pirates _are_ going to attack the village tomorrow." Nami said.

"They sure are." Usopp confirmed. "And no one will believe me! They'll all think that tomorrow is just another peaceful day…" Usopp sprang to his feet, determination blazing in his eyes. "So it's up to me to meet those pirates and fight them off! Then I'll have a _real_ tall tale to tell!" despite the seriousness, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle. Nami looked at him accusingly.

"Sorry, but tall tale to tell, try saying that five times fast." He said with a shrug. Nami just shook her head.

"They can shoot me in the arm and chase me with brooms but this village is my home." Usopp said, clutching his arm. "I love this village! I've got to protect my neighbors!" His head fell into his hands as tears began to fall. "There's not much time to plan, but refuse to let everyone get murdered."

"You've got a noble heart." Zoro told him. "You sent your crew away so that you could face this danger alone."

"The kind of dedication you have to your home, my people had a name for it Usopp." Naruto said. "They called it the Will of Fire. And it clearly burns brightly in you."

"And now, we're gonna help you protect your home." Luffy declared, stretching out his arm.

"I'm telling you know, their treasure's all mine." Nami said.

"Really Nami?" asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow. "The fate of a village hangs in the balance and you're worried about who gets the treasure." Usopp was just looking at them all in shock.

"You guys would be willing to fight beside me?" he asked. "Why?"

"You're hopelessly outnumbered right?" asked Luffy, stretching the kinks out his arm.

"And you look pretty scared." Zoro pointed out.

"Me? Scared? Th-That's a la-laugh! Outnumbered or not, I'll be fine!" Usop said. "I'm Captain Usopp, brave warrior of the sea!" Naruto cleared his throat and glanced down at Usopp's shaking legs. "Damnit!" he shouted and started pounding on his legs. "What are you looking at? I'm going up against Captain Kuro's Pirates! Of course I'm scared! So what? I don't want your pity! You guys and stop laughing! Leave!" The Straw Hats stood looking at Usopp.

"You done?" asked Naruto, slightly annoyed.

"We're not laughing at you." Zoro said. "We're impressed. That's why we're going to help you."

"Who'd risk their life out of pity anyway?" demanded Luffy.

"The kind of people who fall for the sob stories," Naruto said with a smirk. "We however, are kinds of people who are willing to fight for men who believe in what they're doing."

"Y-You guys," Usopp said, tears falling from his eyes. Naruto smirked and slapped his shoulder.

"Stop the waterworks Usopp." Naruto said. "You got any kind of plan on how to beat these guys. Our crew's usual plan is just start hitting the guys when the show up."

"Yeah, I have an idea." Usopp said. "They'll attack from this beach with this being the only rout to the village." Usopp explained and looked back at the trail. "They'll have to come up this pass. Everywhere else there are just sheer cliffs. So if we can defend this path, the village will be safe."

"Wow, piece of cake." Luffy said.

"Somehow I doubt that Captain." Naruto said.

"He's right." Usopp said. "We're practically going up against an army. So what can you guys do?"

"I cut." Zoro said.

"I stretch." Luffy continued.

"I steal." Nami added.

"I clone myself." Naruto finished.

"I run and hide." Usopp said.

"You've got to fight!" the straw hats shouted at him.

"Well at the very least, I guess I could plan." Usopp said. For the rest of the night, Usopp and the Straw Hats poured oil down the slope.

"It's perfect!" Usopp declared when they finished. "There's no way those pirates can get up the hill now. Not with all the oil we've poured down it."

"I've got to admit, it would be difficult for anyone to get up this hill now." Naruto said.

"Now here's the plan: We attack them while they're slipping and sliding around on the oil." Usopp said. "No matter what happens, we have to hold this pass."

"I just hope we don't end up slipping and sliding ourselves." Nami said. "It'd be pretty dumb if we got caught in our own trap!"

"You sure came up with a slick plan." Luffy laughed.

"Nice one Captain." Naruto laughed.

"Naturally!" shouted Usopp. "When it comes to daring ideas and slingshot I have absolute confidence!" Slowly, the sun rose over the ocean.

"And so comes the dawn." Zoro said.

"And for Usopp's village, another peaceful day in paradise," Naruto said. And so the Straw Hats waited. And waited. And waited.

"Where are they?" Luffy complained. "It's already dawn!"

"Maybe they overslept." Zoro suggested. Naruto looked Zoro.

"Zoro their boss has been planning this thing for years." He said. "I doubt they'd have over slept."

"It was just a thought." Zoro shrugged. Naruto shook his head at the swordsman. He noticed Nami with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Nami?" he asked.

"Maybe it's just me," she said, cupping her hand around her ear, "but does anyone else hear someone yelling "yarrr" to the north of us?"

"North!" Usopp shouted. Naruto focused on his hearing as well and thought he heard it too.

"I _definitely_ hear something." Nami said.

"She's right." Naruto agreed.

"Hey, what is it?" asked Zoro.

"There's another landing on the north beach." Usopp admitted.

"You mean we're at the wrong beach?" Luffy demanded.

"But the pirates had their secret meeting here." Usopp defended himself. "So I just assumed,"

"We got to get to them before they reach the village!" Luffy cut him off. "Which way should we go?"

"If we run strait north we should be able to get there in about 3 minutes!" Usopp determined. "There's another pass there almost exactly like this on. We can stop them there!"

"Oh no! Our ships are at the north beach!" Nami screamed. "They'll take our treasure!"

"Priorities Nami, seriously!" Naruto snapped before he took off and started jumping through the trees. As he leapt through the trees, he spotted Usopp running under him.

_Commercial Break_

_With his new power, Kamen Rider Kurama finishes his battle with the Mist Demon Zabuza and brings peace to the Land of Waves. And after some calming time back at home, a new battle starts to rise upon the horizon and it is going to be rocking._

_End Commercial_

"Wow, speedy son of a bitch." Naruto muttered as he watched Usopp shoot off. Naruto reached the North Beach just as Usopp declared he had 10,000,000 men waiting to fight. Naruto smirked and made a cross with his fingers. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" all along the ridges of the ravine, smoke appeared and from it, an army of Narutos.

"What the?" asked Usopp gapping at the site of the so many Narutos.

"I told you I could clone myself." Naruto said as he walked up to Usopp. "I'm not sure if it's 10 million, but I can only make so many. Down at the bottom of the hill, the captain, Django was wide eyed.

"What the hell is this guy?" he whispered.

"Captain Django, it's amazing!" one of the pirates shouted.

"What is it? What's the trouble?" Django asked.

"Not trouble sir, treasure." The pirate said. "We found treasure on those suspicious ships. It's a king's ransom, 4, maybe 5 million berries."

"What?" Django shouted.

"You guys carry all that with you?" Usopp asked Naruto.

"Blame Nami," Naruto muttered. "Yo! That treasure is the property of the Straw Hat Pirates!" he shouted before adding in a whisper, "or at least the navigator who's traveling with us." He raised his voice again. "Anyway, touch that treasure and I will personally beat you within an inch of your lives!"

"Why Naruto, how kind of you to defend my treasure." Nami said as she approached the group from behind.

"I just don't want to hear you bitching about losing it all the way to the Grand Line." Naruto waved his hand. "Anyway, let's get down to business. Attack!" Naruto shouted and his clones jumped down, summoning their weapons. "Usopp, if you're actually good with that slingshot, the keep us covered. Nami, I trust you and your staff to get any pirates that would happen to get past."

"And what are you gonna do?" asked Nami.

"What do you expect?" Naruto asked with a smile. He summoned his spear and charged into battle shouting, "Banzi!"

"Why does he get to boss us around?" Usopp groaned as he loaded his slingshot.

"Well he is Luffy's first mate." Nami pointed out and assembled her staff.

Down in the battlefield, the Naruto Army was clashing with the Black Cat Pirates. Narutos who had both their sword and gun were like tornados on the battlefield, their blades sliced through anyone who got too close and those that were farther away were blasted by Naruto's guns.

The Narutos who had two swords each used a different fighting style. The first batched were a rather straightforward style. They could easily stand in the middle of a crowd and defend an attack coming from one side and slash at an opponent coming in from a different side. And if they don't attack at close range, then they were fighting at mid-range. They attached their swords to chakra strings and threw them around themselves. Any pirate too close was either slashed or disarmed by the strings.

The other Narutos, the ones with a pair of guns were using two completely different styles. One batch seemed to be staggering around, tripping and stumbling, but still shooting off perfect shots, blasting away any Black Cat Pirate. The other style was a lot more fluid. Sliding through the pirates like water and blowing them away with their pistols.

The Narutos who were using spears, like the original, were fighting at both close and midrange, taking out pirates with either quick stabs or with wide sweeps. Few, if any pirates could get close to him. Just like Naruto had instructed, Usopp fired off shots from his slingshots, nailing pirates and throwing them off balance. This made them easy targets for the Narutos. However, there were several pirates that got past the Narutos, but then they had to deal with Nami and her staff. But several pirates managed to get past her too and were able to injure Nami and Usopp.

"Nami! Usopp!" several Naruto's called. Those who were distracted were dispelled by the still attacking pirates.

"What are you all doing?" Django demanded. "If we take too much time dealing with these kids then Captain Kuro will surely kill us all for messing up his plan."

"He's right!" a Black Cat Pirate shouted. The pirates rushed past, despite Usopp trying to hold them back.

_No!_ Naruto thought. _I can't let this happen!_ Naruto could feel the Kyubi's power start to fill his body. His eyes were beginning to shift back and forth between bright blue to blood red slits. However, the Black Cat Pirates were sent flying over the Straw Hats' heads.

"Nice timing guys." Naruto said as he ran up to Luffy and Zoro. However when he got there, Luffy was yelling at Usopp for not giving him good directions and Zoro was yelling at Nami about pulling him down onto the oily cliff.

"Luffy, you never _asked_ for directions remember?" Naruto snapped at his captain. "And Nami, please tell me you had a good reason for leaving Zoro on the oil slick."

"I had to make sure my treasure was safe." Nami said firmly. Naruto smack his forehead with the heel of his palm.

"When his is over Nami, we're having a talk about your priorities." Naruto said. "Until then we've, hey, what are they doing?" Naruto asked as he saw Django waving his pendulum in front of the other Black Cats.

"It looks like he's trying to hypnotize them into being stronger." Nami said. This was actually dead on as the Black Cat Pirates suddenly sprung to life with renewed vigor. One of them even managed to shatter the Cliffside with a single punch. However, they weren't the only ones to be hypnotized. Luffy charged into the crowd of pirates unleashing a rapid fire barrage of punches he'd dubbed "Gum-Gum Gatling Gun!"

"Whoa," Usopp gasped.

"Yeah, Luffy's strong, right Naruto?" Nami said. Naruto however, was shaking, his spear clattering to the ground and his remaining clones disappearing into smoke. "Naruto, what's wrong?" Naruto's eyes snapped open, revealing blood red eyes with slit pupils. His hair seemed to become spikier. His incisors and fingernails lengthened and sharpened into fangs and claws and the whisker marks on his cheeks darkened as well. Naruto released a roar backed by the Kyubi's chakra creating a shockwave that knocked the Black Cat Pirates, and Luffy, out of the hypnotized states.

"Hey what's," Luffy started but froze when he saw Naruto. "Oh no,"

"Luffy, what's going on?" Zoro asked.

"Naruto's got…a power inside him." Luffy said carefully. "It's a power that he can't control. And whenever it's unleashed, it turns him into something just short of a wild animal." They looked up at Naruto and saw that red chakra was starting to swirl around him and take shape, that shape being of a fox. The fox leapt through the crowd making a b-line path to Django. But he was blocked by a pirate in a black and gold uniform with the kanji for King tattooed on his forehead wielding a staff.

"I'm not sure what kind of beast you are boy." The pirate said. "But I, Riki the King will be your opponent." Naruto growled at Riki and jumped back. They two stared at each other before they jumped up the side of the cliff. When they landed, Naruto took no time in charging at Riki. Riki countered by firing off a beam from his staff. Naruto jumped back and growled.

"You have quick reflexes boy I'll give you that, but you could not hope to match the power of my staff." Riki boasted. Naruto responded by attacking again. He threw his arm out in a claw slash motion. Riki jumped back, but was still struck as Naruto's chakra arm extended and scratched Riki across the chest. "What?" Riki gasped and clutched his chest. "What are you?"

Naruto didn't answer. Instead he held his hand out as chakra started to swirl around it, forming a Rasengan. With a powerful roar he charged again at Riki. "Stay back!" Riki screamed and fired another blast at Naruto. The blast hit him square in the chest and made him stop. Naruto was pushed back, his rasengan faded away. Naruto in response started growling again.

Riki's eyes widened as the power from his staff started increasing the aura around Naruto. With a roar, Naruto charged, another Rasengan forming in his hand. Riki started pleading for his life as Naruto bore down one him with a Rasengan the size of a small house. The force of the attack created a small explosion and a mushroom cloud. When the smoke faded, all that was left of Riki was a smothering husk of a body and his staff. Naruto meanwhile lost his fox aura and stagger forward.

"Hey…souvenir…" He said picking up the staff before he passed out.

_**OK, that's the end of this short chap. Well short as compared to what I've been putting out. Anyway, I'll get the next chap out when I can, It's already about half done, I'm just stuck at where Yousako and Johnny are introduced. Anyway, I'll get back to you all later.**_

_**Read and Review!**_

Life in Konoha

Lee was staggering to his feet. He, and his team from what he heard, was fighting against clones of themselves that were just as strong as the originals. And it didn't sound like Teams Kurenai and Asuma weren't having much more luck.

It sounded like Team Kurenai, along with an elder from Suna named Chiyo, was fighting her long lost grandson Chiyo the Puppet Master and it wasn't going well. Chiyo was able fight back with her own puppets, but Kurinai's genjutsu was useless against the puppet man and so where Hinata's Gentle Fist strikes since the puppets didn't have any chakra. Shino and Kiba however were having much more luck. Shino's insects were able to dissolve the strings and Kiba and Akamaru's forceful attacks shattered the puppets.

Meanwhile, Team Asuma was tracking down the Mad Bomber Dederia who had Garra's body in the mouth of a giant clay bird. It was a fast and the bird's movements were erratic. Shikamaru couldn't pinpoint his moves with his Shadow Possession Jutsu and Ino couldn't properly aim her Mind Transfer Jutsu. He also kept out of Choji's reach so that the Akamichi and his giant limbs. Asura might have been able to take it down with a jutsu, but since the clay was explosive, he couldn't be sure the attack would cause he bird and Gaara could explode.

"I don't like how this is going." Asuma said.

"You and me both Asuma," Kurenai agreed through their radios.

"These copies are most unyoutuful." Gai said.

"We can't give up!" Lee shouted, grabbing everyone's attention. "He selected us by name for this mission! And I refuse to fall here!"

"He's right." Kiba agreed. "If we get beat here, I know I won't be able to face him."

"It's troublesome, but they're right." Shikamaru said. "And we know he'd never let us live it down."

"Who are they talking about?" Chiyo asked Hinata who was smiling.

"They're talking about the greatest hero Konoha had ever know." She told the Suna Elder. "A man who could light a fire in any heart and who never gave up. The hero that the fools in charge had banished: Uzumaki Naruto."

With a new fire burning inside the hearts of the Konoha ninja, they fought against their respective opponents with new strength and determination.


End file.
